The Plight of Gohan (A DBZ Gohan x Videl Fanfiction)
by DominicSO
Summary: A look at a certain Saiyan as he enters high school and realizes that it is far more chaotic than he imagined.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! My name is Dominic, and this is my first fanfiction!

Please be forewarned that this story is RIDICULOUSLY LONG. I apologize for that, but it's just part of my writing style.

I would like to say that:

1) I (to my great disappointment) hold no claim in the Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z franchise, so I do not intend to infringe any legal... Stuff.

2) Certain themes within the story may strike you as similar to other fanfictions. That is because I was greatly inspired by other contributors on and other sites. While this particular story has involved or blended some ideas from other stories, I must proclaim that I did not try to deliberately steal anybody else's work.

I hope you enjoy it! Please give me feedback on what you think!

_(This is thought.)_

Chapter 1: The Life and Lies of an Adolescent Saiyan

Gohan sat in a cross-legged position, resting his hands on his knees. Focusing on keeping his mind clear, the adolescent Saiyan hybrid attempted to absorb the tranquility of his environment. Birds chirped overhead while water rushed down a nearby river. However, regardless of his efforts, Gohan could not manage to keep his mind off of the imminent endeavor that continuously disrupted any attempt at finding peace. Sighing, he gave in and opened his eyes.

The following day, Gohan would face a challenge that no one could truly prepare for. This undertaking was one of the few that fourteen years of training on his mind and body would do little to help, the same being true for his Saiyan heritage and his vast intellect: High school.

* * *

Despite rigorously homeschooling Gohan from a very young age, Chi-Chi determined that Gohan would go to conventional high school for his junior year. Though he possessed more knowledge than most college professors did on an expansive multitude of subjects, she recognized that he needed social interaction as both an engagement and a distraction._ "He's never gotten any contact with anyone his age."_ she thought while watching Goten and Trunks tear through a nearby field _"And he really needs it... Especially with who his current friends are and what he's gone through."_ Chi-Chi was a smart woman, and she understood that Gohan needed to meet and communicate with people his own age. She worried for his psychological state. Though he may look fine, she knew better. Over the last several years, instances such as Goten occasionally running into her room scared of Gohan's cries in his sleep kept the matriarch of the Son household well informed of her eldest child's delicate mental state. Chi-Chi therefore resolved that he needed to meet more adolescents in order to have an outlet that he never had the pleasure of. He may have been very different than other members of his generation, but she was sure he would make many friends, given he was placed in the ideal environment. What Chi-Chi didn't tell Gohan was her eternal motive: Grandchildren. Obviously, she wasn't going to tell him that, but she still constantly thought of it.

* * *

Gohan understood what she meant when she had initially described her reasoning. At the age of seventeen (eighteen counting the Hyperbolic Time Chamber) he knew very little socially, and had spent little time with individuals his own age. While he did feel anxious meeting other adolescents and sad to be missing lots of training, a strange internal desire to have social interaction overwhelmed any objection he had against her proposal. She proceeded to find the closest high school and arranged for him to attend. Unfortunately, by the time they reached an official decision, school was already started. This meant that he would be joining two weeks late, a while after everybody got to know each other.

* * *

Gohan sighed again, louder than before and looked at the receding sun. _"Well, time to go home."_ He reasoned to himself. _"I need to be sure that everything's ready. If I'm late, the dragon balls wouldn't be able to save me from mom."_ He chuckled weakly at his joke. As he winced from the anxiety gripping his abdomen, the teenage Saiyan wondered what his father would say to him to motivate Gohan out of his stress. To Goku, school (or anything else not involving fighting or eating) would have immediately made him bored. Even in his childhood, Gohan would do schoolwork on a daily basis that made his father either fall asleep or get a headache. Despite Goku's complete and bliss ignorance to the concept of academic pursuit, he probably still would have had something to say to Gohan that would be inspiring. His father always seemed to have a knack in making inspiring statements, at least in the eyes of the young Gohan. As Gohan took to the air, his mind was a blur of mixed emotions regarding the next day and his depression over his father. Only one thought resounded clearly in his mind. _"Dad, I miss you so much."_

* * *

"GOHAN!"

"Mhm?"

"ARE YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING?!"

Son Gohan shot out in bed, grabbed his clothes, and ran to the bathroom. "I can't believe it! I slept in!" He swiftly showered, changed, grabbed his bag, and ran down the hall. His mother was standing with a seething glare over his chair. Knowing what was coming, Gohan sat down to his lukewarm breakfast, understanding that no effort on his part could stop the inevitable 'conversation', and decided to eat while she was yelling at him so he could save time. Before taking the first bite of toast, he was slapped across the back of his head with a blow that would compare to the force of most martial artist's kicks. "Ouch!" Gohan semi-yipped, rubbing his head. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IMPORTANT TIME IS ON THIS DAY?" Chi-Chi screamed, shaking her fist wildly. "HAVE YOU NO CLUE, AFTER ALL OF THESE YEARS OF INSTRUCTION, ALL THE EFFORT I MADE TO MAKING SURE MY SON HAD A PROPER EDUCATION WHILE HE WOULD RUN OFF WITH HIS FATHER TO SAVE THE WORLD OR TRAIN?" "Yes, Mom! I just oversle-" "NO EXCUSES!" Chi-Chi shrieked. "NOW BE QUIET, EAT YOUR FOOD, AND HOPE TO YOUR GREEN FRIEND IN THE SKY THAT YOU MAKE IT TO SCHOOL ON TIME, BECAUSE IF YOU'RE LATE…" Breathing heavily, Chi-Chi left the threat open-ended, because no verbal explanation could truly capture her wrath.

Scarfing down his meal, Gohan leaped to his feet, brushed his teeth, made sure he had everything, kissed Chi-Chi on the cheek, and dashed towards the door. "Gohan!" He turned. "Yes, Mom?" His twice-widowed (by the same man) mother had watery eyes, and she had a sad smile on her face. "Have fun. I'm so proud of you." Smiling, Gohan stood still for a short instant, savoring the moment of excitement and euphoria for the day ahead. "I love you too, Mom, but I gotta go!" Dashing out the door, he made it four yards away before he heard a cry "Brother!", then was subsequently tackled, barely managing to float above the ground to avoid getting his white shirt dirty. Turning around, he was met by a creature of cuteness, mischief, and unbridled power all wrapped into one. Gohan smiled and quickly crouched to meet his brother's dark eyes. "Good morning, Goten! I'm sorry, but I really can't talk right now. I've got to go to my first day of school in the city!" His brother cast his gaze towards the ground and frowned a bit, but his face quickly shifted into an expression of delight. "You'll be back before dinner, right!? Can we still play?" Gohan grinned at his brother. "Sure thing, squirt! Love you! Don't blow up the house while I'm gone!" Turning his eyes towards the blue sky above, Gohan yelled at the top of his lungs "NIMBUS!" The cloud appeared in the horizon after a short pause, and sped quickly towards the two. Gohan quickly said "See you later, alligator!" and leaped straight up in the air, doing a flip before landing on Nimbus, which hardly paused for its passenger before blasting off. Goten was still giggling from the 'blowing up' comment as his brother shrunk in the distance, headed towards a new life at Orange Star High School in Satan City.

* * *

Landing in a deserted alleyway, Gohan took extra care not to be noticed. One of his mother's first and highest concerns was his powers being discovered at school, therefore jeopardizing the secrecy that the Son Family had held dear for many years. Chi-Chi had therefore determined that he should show no signs of being abnormal, and therefore hide his powers. Gohan looked at his watch and realized that he had only nine minutes before school started. Walking out of the dark crack between the buildings, he trod towards his new school. Starting off at a speed that was normally sprinting for most, he quickly realized he would never make at the incredibly slow rate he was going. That is, not by human standards…

Glancing around, Gohan weighed his options._ "Well,"_ he contemplated _"it can't be too bad if no one sees me."_ Settling with that reasoning, he proceeded to start going at something more his speed. Looking at his watch, he realized he had plenty of time, seeing as he had cleared half the distance in one minute. Shaking his head, he slowed down slightly. Looking around the various places he was rapidly passing, he glanced at the various businesses, plants, signs, and gunmen. _"Wait, what?"_

Screeching to a halt, Gohan backed up to a street where he, amongst some others cowering behind large objects, observed criminals on the back of a truck firing upon a police car. Thankfully, its occupants were hiding behind the crumbling vehicle, but it looked as though their cover wouldn't hold. All the while, people were cowering within a building in shambles, its bullet-hole riddled sign reading 'Bank'. Gohan, who hadn't had much experience with matters such as theft and the like (being more inclined to be intervening in things such as mass genocide or planetary annihilation), didn't understand what was going on at first, but it suddenly clicked. His eyes narrowed as he took in what was going on in front of him. Shaking his head, he sighed _"Ugh! Another batch of crooks! It never ends."_ He took a step forward to begin pummeling the crooks, when he remembered. _"Oh no! I can't use my powers with people watching!"_ Internally struggling, Gohan ran into a tree's shade. No one had seen him, as their eyes had been turned by the terrifying scene in front of them. "I know!" He exclaimed. _"I can go Super Saiyan, and then no one would recognize me!"_ Sliding off his bag, he ran back out into the street. A few people nearby glanced at him and were about to tell him to get down before they fully comprehended what they saw. A golden-haired man stood tall, surrounded by a powerful pulsating yellow aura that seemed to be pure power. A wind was generated from his energy, and light streamed out from his body. Fixing his glare upon the criminals, some people shivered as they felt the rise in ki around them, although they didn't know what exactly it was. Leaping into action, Gohan leaped up onto the truck bed and lightly tapped one of the wrongdoers with his foot. The crook went flying. Jumping off the truck, he subsequently dispatched of the rest of the gang with minimal effort. Hearing the loud screeched, Gohan winced and turned to see the getaway vehicle speeding off. The eldest Human-Saiyan hybrid internally smiled. Focusing a fragment of his ki, he concentrated on the truck. Yelling, he had to concentrate on restraining himself as he let loose an insignificantly small portion of his power and flipped the pickup. While everyone was gaping at the airborne truck, he quickly slipped away. When they turned in awe to the glowing warrior, he was gone. "I-im-impossible!" an old man loudly proclaimed. The tiniest of smiles arose on Gohan's face as he turned to walk towards his school. _"Another gang of bad guys down for the count."_ However, this euphoria quickly lost in shock when a voice sounded behind him.

"You!" Gohan jumped. Turning, he saw a beautiful, sparkling sea of blue. No, it wasn't. It was a girl. A very grouchy-looking girl. Scowling, the girl spoke again. "Tell me who did this! It hardly looks like police work!" Gohan took in the information and struggled to synthesize a lie. Slightly stuttering, he managed to say "Oh! Umm, I guess I wasn't looking." The girl glanced at him for a second, raising an eyebrow, before looking back at the wreckage in the street. Punching her left hand in the palm of the, she disappointedly continued. "I can't believe I missed it! I should have stopped them!" Under the cover of her anger-induced obliviousness, Gohan snuck away. The last thing he wanted to happen (besides perhaps his Mom finding he got a 96% on a quiz or test) was him to be marked as an outcast at his school before he entered.

* * *

Videl was fuming. She turned to the guy to further interrogate him, when she realized he was gone. _"Hm. That's odd…"_ Pushing past the peculiarity on how fast the boy disappeared, she further reviewed the scene in front of her. This was the first call she had gotten from the police in 5 days! And she managed to miss it! What's more, it looked like it was successfully stopped by someone else! She didn't mind the free time, of course, since it gave her more time to hang out with her friends, but she was still starved for action. "Oh! Hey Videl!" Turning, she saw Old Man Jones (stereotypical, I know) running up to him. She had saved him along with ten others during a hostage situation at a nearby tower. "I was wondering when you'd show up! Wasn't that Golden Fighter incredible?" Videl reeled internally. "A golden fighter? Explain!" She demanded. She had a real bone to pick with this 'Golden Fighter' guy. How dare they steal her job! And how on earth did they manage to cause all of this chaos? Mr. Jones stopped where he was and stared, shocked. "You mean you really didn't see him? He was some kinda freak-ish superhuman! His hair was glowing gold, and he was surrounded by a strange glowing light! He looked like he was using tricks with mirrors and stuff, but it sure felt real! Why, I even saw him knock down a truck just by yelling at it!" He appeared shocked just by hearing the words coming out of his mouth. Suddenly, a thoughtful expression emerged on his face. "Actually, I assumed he was a buddy of yours since he went to your high school!" Videl was shocked. "Huh?" Old Man Jones continued. "Yeah, he had a badge just like that one on his shirt!" Videl quickly thought that statement through. "All the kids at school have to wear this stupid thing... Well, if he really goes there," she vowed, her eyes narrowing "I will find him."


	2. Chapter 2

Woo! Second chapter! I was personally surprised that other people are still interested in this ship, considering that most Gohan x Videl fanfiction that I've seen is from 2002. Thank you for your interest, and be sure to review!

Chapter 2: Gohan's Single Unlearned Subject

Mr. Oshieru strode into his classroom. Setting down his agenda and assignment plans for the day, he spoke to the class. "Good morning, my young -uh- scholars. Today, we are honored to have a new member of the junior class who can actually read!" Turning towards the doorway, he nodded at the shy figure peeking in. "That's your cue, my boy." Nervously breathing, Gohan stepped into the room. "_Wow! That's a lot of people!" _Giving a nervous chuckle, he spoke to the class. "Oh, -um- good morning! My name's Gohan. Nice to meet you!"

* * *

Next to Videl, Erasa looked over the new boy. "Ooh! Look at him, Videl! He's a cutie." Videl leaned over her desk. "Hm? I know him somehow..." On her other side, her friend Sharpner chuckled. "He was probably on a TV spelling bee." Videl continued to analyze the new kid. "_I know him! Where have I seen him before?"_ As she continued to ponder over him, she stopped paying attention to the droll voice of their teacher. However, she picked up terms like 'perfect scores' and 'learn from his example'.

An arrogant voice rang out. "Example **this**!" This prompted an uproar of laughter, and people started whistling and chattering. Mr. Oshieru shouted "Silence! You kids are an embarrassment to public school!" Videl rolled her eyes at the absurdity of his statement. "_He acts as though there was dignity in public school to begin with! Even so, I'm glad I was able to talk Dad out of forcing me to go to a private school." _Videl wasn't a bad student or anything. No, on the contrary, she was an excellent student, considering all the time that had to be set aside for training and helping the police. She just didn't like being filthy rich. Money, she didn't mind at all. However, the vast amount of financial power her father had gained from various commercial ventures and donations after the Cell Games was simply ridiculous. "_Not to mention the paparazzi."_ Videl shuddered. Videl always held a certain level of dislike to being under constant scrutiny of the masses. Even her clothing choices were important, for God's sake. '_Oh, Videl, you have such a great form of rebellious expressionism.' _and '_Videl! I LOVE your careless look!' _She wore the clothes she wore because she liked them, not the stupid cameras or the popularity. Suddenly, a voice cut through her train of thought. "Yoohoo! New boy!" Videl turned to see Erasa pointing to a chair. "Here's one."

* * *

Gohan's mind was blank. The voices and laughter of all the students made the butterflies in his stomach double in speed. He felt pinned to the spot. "_Oh, what am I doing? This is so embarrassing!"_ A blonde girl in a green dress stood up among the vast sea of staring students and offered him a seat. "Oh. Sure. Thank you!" He replied, smiling. "_Phew!" _He thought to himself. "_That's one problem out of the way." _Making his way up to his newly acquired seat, he saw the blonde girl smiling and a raven-haired girl looking weirdly at him. Upon getting to his chair, he attempted conversation. "Nice to meet you!" He greeted. Smiling, the nice girl introduced herself. "I'm Erasa! With an E!" Looking further along the row, Gohan barely stopped himself from gasping. "_Oh no! That's the girl who talked to me at the crime scene!"_

* * *

Throughout the first period, English class, Erasa engaged Gohan in casual conversation. How he was, how cute he was, what he thought of the school, and how cute he was were a few of the topics. Throughout their conversation, Erasa gasped. "Oh! I totally forgot to introduce you! Gohan, I'd like you to meet Videl. _The_ Videl." Gohan looked confused. "Is there a reason that you're the only Videl?" Videl was shocked. "_He doesn't know who I am? That's a new one."_ Erasa regained her composure before Videl did. "You silly! This is Videl _Satan._ You know, the daughter of Hercule Satan, the man who saved the world?" Gohan internally laughed upon learning that. It had been a while since he had last heard _that_ name before. Composing himself, he spoke to the girl. "That must be cool. You being a celebrity's daughter and all!" Videl's eyes were unwavering as she picked apart the new kid. She simply replied "Yeah, I guess it has its advantages." before continuing to stare at the new boy. Gohan had the distinct feeling her eyes were burning through his skull. After a brief pause, her eyes widened, and she spoke. "So _you're_ the guy!" Gohan jerked back. "_Oh no! She remembers!"_ He thought, trying to avoid the piercing gaze while also trying not to look guilty. "Yeah… You're the one I talked to outside of the bank this morning!" She continued. Erasa suddenly jumped in. "You mean right after the Golden Fighter disappeared? The one who was supposed to be using those light tricks and stuff?" "_Uh-oh. It's been less than an hour and they've already made a legend out of me!"_ Gohan gulped down nervously, eyes flickering to his desk. The piecing blue eyes burned into him for the rest of the period.

* * *

As soon as the bell indicating the end of class rang, Gohan was packed up and heading out the door. Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner walked out at their normal pace. Sharpner bid the others farewell because he had to go talk to the gym coach about something and he didn't share the next two classes with them. As he walked away, Erasa turned to her best friend. "What the hell's your problem?" Videl looked at her for the first time during their break, since her eyes had been trained on Gohan's retreating form, and she had continued to stare at the last spot she had seen him when he escaped the socially-awkward situation. "What?" Videl said, coming out of her state of contemplation. "You know what I mean!" Erasa was glaring at her. "You're being a total jerk! More than usual! Gohan is a cute, innocent, smart, cute, and socially-awkward cutie who just got here! You've said, like, less than ten words to him, and you're acting as though he's your worst enemy!" Videl frowned at that. Erasa may be right, she was being a bit more… prickly than usual. "_But there's something about this guy!"_ Her inner police officer had an alarm going off about the new kid. Videl just shrugged. "Fine." she promised, "I'll… behave. It's just that I can't get the hang of that guy! He was at the bank this morning, and he acted as though he missed the whole thing because he wasn't 'paying attention'. There's just something off about him that's not right! But, I suppose… Yeah, I see what you mean. He does seem rather… Naive." She nodded, seeing Erasa's viewpoint on the matter. "_I still think he's hiding something. Something's not right with Gohan."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! This is Chapter 3! Heeding the advice of some readers, I am now adding indicators of switching points of view. Also, I must warn that there are a few swear words in this chapter. Just a heads up! Other than that, I must say that I'm still really proud of the positive reception I'm receiving! Thank you!**

Chapter 3: Downs and Ups

As the bell rang, indicating the end of break, Gohan looked at his schedule, then a nearby clock. "_Oh! I have chemistry now! This should be simple enough, since the entry quizzes with chemistry were so easy! Maybe this school thing won't be so bad after all!"_ His face lit up into a smile for a brief second, before someone passing him a bit away yelled at him "Hey there, dumbass!" Face falling, Gohan looked at the ground a bit to hide his embarrassment. "_I miss Goten. He would never call me names."_

* * *

Videl and Erasa were approaching the new boy Gohan. The former of the pair had assured her best friend that she would get to know Gohan a bit more before making judgements. As they neared him, they saw him looking closely at his schedule, then looking up with a small yet goofy smile. Videl was just about to comment to Erasa that he looked quite childishly innocent, when a loud call rung through the air. "Hey there, dumbass!" Stopping short, Videl and Erasa looked for the idiot who had just made that comment. The two of them highly disliked bullies, and a plentiful amount of people had ended up going to the school nurse from 'repayments' the young Satan had distributed to those who had the stupidity to commit such acts within her presence. Scanning the crowds for a few seconds, they couldn't locate anyone nearby who had a record for that sort of thing, causing Videl to slightly scowl and Erasa to purse her lips.

* * *

Gohan began trodding to class. "_Today's not my day. People are calling me names that I've only heard from Vegeta, and even he doesn't call me them!" _He thought miserably. "_Darn. I was really hoping I'd be able to get along with people my age and… and…"_ Gohan couldn't find any words to describe what he was thinking. There was just something about being around his peers that had made him feel… Nice. It wasn't anything he had felt before. Deep in thought, he bumped into somebody. Jumping and blushing, Gohan immediately launched into apology while looking intently at the ground. "Oh! I am so so sorry!" "Gohan." He jumped again, this time to the mention of his name. Looking up wildly, he saw Erasa. Trying to look sociable, Gohan attempted to force a happy look to his face, but had a feeling it wouldn't convince anybody. Gohan's eyes flicked to the person next to Erasa. "Ah!" He jumped for the third time in five seconds. It was Videl. Her eyes were still mildly squinting at him, though they were much softer than they had been previously. After a moment of regarding him, she sighed. "I'm sorry I was rude to you earlier." Gohan's eyes widened at that, as did Erasa's. A shocked moment of silence passed before Gohan responded, scratching the back of his head, smiling awkwardly. "Oh, there's -uh- r-really no need to apologize!" Videl snorted at that. It was obvious that he was just trying to be gracious. "Are you okay?" Gohan looked shocked at her. "Y-yeah… Wh-" "We heard what someone called you." "Oh. It's nothing, really." He looked at her inquisitively. Videl shifted uneasily, never being one at ease with social situations. Using some advice from Erasa, Videl tried imagining what would be most important to a new, socially awkward kid. Almost immediately, she had an idea.

* * *

On Videl's first day at Orange Star High, she was lost as soon as she walked in. Wandering around the massive building, she didn't want to ask the teachers nor the students for help, since she had wanted to build a reputation of being independent, which was one of the reasons she had not allowed her father to leave the car. The other reason being she didn't want to be an instantaneous star because of her father, like she was at her middle school. At the time, very few people at the school knew she was the daughter of Hercule Satan, since he had sent her to private schools up until she made her argument to go to public school for high school. She walked amongst the crowd, not knowing where to go, but didn't want to give the impression of a 'helpless girl'. In her adventures along the endless corridors, she had heard yelling and crying. Rushing into an empty corridor, she saw two older boys pushing and yelling at a crying girl around Videl's age. "You're a good-for-nothing, STUPID blonde, you know that?!" "Yeah, slut! No one gives a shit about you! Now show us your tits, before we make you!" The girl was leaning against the wall, obviously trying not to cry, but nevertheless failing. Videl examined the situation for a second, then leaped into action. She yelled, running up to them and glaring with an intensity that matched the degree of Chi-Chi's angriest look. "Hey, you idiots!" She pushed at one of them away from the girl, catching the great brute by surprise with her strength. The girl behind her slid down the wall, crouching and hugging her shaking body into a ball. "Leave her alone! You two should be ashamed of yourselves!" They glanced at each other, a little dumbfounded before they turned back at her, looking daggers. "Oh yeah? Who do you think you are?!" The larger of the two of them spoke, his sneer disgusting Videl to no end. Videl internally sighed. "_Well, here goes my cover."_ "I'm Videl Satan," she growled "and I don't like bullies." The pair exchanged a look again, and then broke out in laughter. After five seconds, they looked back at the little girl before them. Grinning, the big one spoke again. "_You_, the kid of the champ? Listen, runt. I'll give you five seconds to beat _it_, or else I'll beat _you._ Got it?" The young Satan took her fighting stance between the two disgusting creatures and the sniffling girl. "I'll take option number two." The bullies guffawed for a bit, before the dominant one spoke again, smiling. "It's your funeral." He casually threw a punch, intending to beat this interrupting brat into submission. Much to his surprise, Videl caught his fist, grinning at him. "Wrong choice." She said softly, before proceeding to kick the hell out of the two of them.

* * *

The helpless crying girl now stood beside her as her best friend, and Videl wanted to make this new boy feel better for what he had been subjected to for his short time in their school. She asked him what class he had next. "Advanced Chemistry." He responded. "Why?" "Well I was going to give you directions but-" "Lucky you! We do too!" Erasa interrupted happily. Videl spoke up again. "Would you like to walk with us, Gohan? We have a bit of time before class starts, so there's really no need to rush." He smiled gladly, and quickly nodded. Erasa raised an eyebrow at the offer, and more importantly the significance behind it, but she wasn't going to say anything… Yet.

* * *

Gohan was very confused. As soon as the bell had rung, he flew (figuratively) out the door. He needed to get away from Mr. Satan's daughter, who was scaring him, despite being ridiculously weaker than him. Attempting to shake of the feeling of her icy stare, he had wandered around and found a place to eat his "snack" out of the public view, which consisted of five sandwiches, twenty apples, seven bananas, six cookies, and a large thermos of noodles. When he had gotten back, Videl was suddenly being sociable to him, which was shocking, but nice nonetheless. Though curious about the sudden change, he inwardly shook it off. _"I just can't understand these people."_

* * *

As they walked, Erasa kept Gohan well engaged in conversation, asking him about his career choices and what he wanted to do before he reversed the roles and questioned her. As Erasa babbled about her passion to become a successful fashion designer, Videl listened as she walked on the other side of Erasa, but was more regarding the boy than anything. Unlike before, she was seeing him in a kinder light. She had seen how scared he had gotten of her when he saw her, which had reminded her of her first day, and the circumstances she had met Erasa under. In that instant, when he had looked fearful of her, Videl recognized how impressionable he was, and saw how her harshness was far too extreme. That set off something within her, filling her with sympathy. "_Besides,"_ she said, observing how attentively and kindly Gohan was conversing to Erasa "_if I get to know him, it will be easier to figure out what he's hiding."_


	4. Chapter 4

Looking at the reviews, it has become obvious to me that I need to modify both my formatting (particularly transitions) and the actual personality of the characters. I already have several chapters lined up for release, so I'm going to be modifying them accordingly. That said, I would love more input for this story so that it may reach its... Perfect Form.

Thank you for your contributions, and enjoy!

Chapter 4: True Chemistry

When they got to their desired room, as indicated by Erasa, Gohan leaped ahead and held the door for them, his mother's words on politeness echoing through his head. Erasa giggled at this small act of kindness, while Videl smiled and nodded as her manner of thanks. As he fell into step behind them, Erasa whispered briefly to Videl "AND a gentleman as well!" Videl just shook her head and rolled her eyes. As they got to their normal seats, they saw that Gohan had stopped to tie his shoelaces. Erasa took this opportunity to quickly talk to her friend. "So Videl, what do you think of Gohan? Isn't he a sweetie?!" Videl looked at her friend and sighed. "Yeah, he's okay, I guess. He's been pretty kind, and thankfully he _hasn't_ been drooling over me because of my dad." Erasa was just about to ask another question before noticing Gohan tentatively walking over to them. Just before them, he looked at the ground. "Do you two mind if I -um- sit with you? You're really the only people I know and, well..." "Absolutely!" Erasa grinned up at the shy boy. Looking away from the ground, he smiled back, before shifting his gaze to Videl, wordlessly asking for her consent. Videl cocked one eyebrow will giving a slight smile. "Be my guest." Smiling, Gohan pulled a stool up to their table and examined his surroundings.

* * *

They were seated two tables away from the front. Unlike their previous lecture hall, the room was all on the same level, divided into twelve large tables. Looking down their table, Gohan saw five other people seated on the other end of the table, none of them looking very happy, or for that matter, awake. One of them was loudly snoring, while the rest were just slouched about. Gohan shook his head. "_The class really couldn't be that bad. Could it?"_

Just then, Professor Khimiya cleared his throat, wordlessly calling for their attention. He spoke up. "Today, we will be performing some small experiments. Now, they aren't that dangerous, but I would like all lab procedures to be followed to the letter. Everyone understand?" The class nodded, Gohan included.

Despite not ever being in a school lab, he had lots of prior experience from the Briefs' lab. His mother arranged these little trips upon realizing Gohan needed some hands-on knowledge when he was studying various advanced sciences at the age of seven, and she wanted the best. A quick call with Bulma secured Gohan as much time as he wanted working with and observing some of the greatest modern minds in science. He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. "_I would imagine this lab's safety standards are the same as Bulma's."_ "For this activity, you will be divided in groups of two to five. You may pick you teammates now." Gohan glanced at the two girls next to him for a microsecond, then looked at the ground intently. "_Oh no! What do I do? I don't want to intrude or anything, but they're the only people I even know!"_ A sound reached Gohan's sharp ears. "Ahem." Looking up, he saw Videl and Erasa looking at him expectantly. "Well?" Videl asked him. "Are you going to join us, or what?" Gohan's eyes instantaneously brightened. "D-do you guys want me to?" He was still afraid that they would reject him.

* * *

Videl rolled her eyes. "_And to think that I thought this guy was a crook, much less a crime fighter."_ Her voice rung out, dripping with sarcasm. "No. We despise you with all of our hearts, and think you should go away." Gohan's face was interesting to watch. At first, his body slouched, but then he looked bewildered by how detailed Videl's explanation of their hatred for him was. Erasa chided her friend. "Videl, don't tease him!" Videl rolled her eyes again. "Just shut up, Gohan. Yes, we want you in our group." The boy sat, though he still looked a bit mystified.

* * *

"Now, today's experiment will pick up on the review unit we started the first week, chemical bonding." The teacher's voice was back, reasserting its dominance amongst the students' babble. "In order to properly display this, we will be testing the melting or burning point, conductivity, and what type of bond _these..._" he said, indicating a wide variety of chemicals laid out on his desk "possess: ionic, covalent, or metallic." Some of the people were beginning to perk up, seeing that they may get the chance to do some actual work. "However," Professor Khimiya continued, blissfully oblivious to the many groans sounding around the room "we will be taking some notes."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, everyone was bored out of their minds. Even Gohan. _Especially_ Gohan. He had surpassed all of the content in the lecture when he was a little bit older than Goten. After playing twelve games of Tic-Tac-Toe with Erasa, he took to daydreaming as he stared out a nearby window. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice the Erasa'a desperate whispers, nor the elbow that Videl had driven into his ribs, not until it was too late.

"EXCUSE ME, MR. SON." Gohan nearly leaped out of his seat. The chemistry professor was glaring down at him. "Would you mind joining us for class today?" He twisted his head, looking at Gohan's work, or lack thereof. "Where are your notes? Do you have any? Do you think you're above normal class work?" he asked, getting quite worked up. He had just made an incredibly long lecture trying to explain to these kids what bonds were, how they acted, and the like, since teenagers hardly remembered what they learned the previous day. He heard some snickers around the room, but he didn't care right then. At that point, he felt that this kid was deliberately ignoring him. Gohan's answer shocked everybody.

"But, sir, I don't need them." The boy looked the man in the eye, cocking his head slightly, seeming quite perplexed. Nearby, Videl and Erasa stared, their eyes wide. Shy Gohan was standing up against one of the strictest and scariest teachers in the school, and he was acting as though he wasn't even doing it consciously. People around the classroom leaned in towards the conversation. From the looks of it, the new dork was picking a fight with the craziest teacher of the lot, and they didn't want to miss it for the world.

"What makes you think that? You think you know all of the content?" "Absolutely. It's really simple." Mr. Khimiya looked as though he was about to burst. Then, he calmed down and began to smile. The majority of the students shivered. The teacher regarded Gohan. "Really, then? Well, if you wouldn't mind, could you show me the extent of what you know?" Gohan nodded once, his eyes remaining level with his teacher's face. Taking a pencil, Gohan began scribbling rapidly in his notebook. Videl and Erasa looked curiously at his paper and expression. Though Gohan's position over his paper made it impossible to see his paper, they could see his face. His brow was creased and he had a determined look to him. The teacher walked back to the front, smirking. "Now, as your classmate continues working on some half-decent notes, we can get back to the lecture."

* * *

Five minutes later, the teacher droned on. The two girls stole occasional glances at Gohan's work, but couldn't see past his crouching head. Suddenly, he leaned away from his paper, did a once-over of his handiwork, and raised his hand. One of the professor's eyebrows shot up in response, but his smile returned. He walked over to Gohan and ceremoniously grabbed the notebook. As the class stood still, he held it two feet away from his mock-dignified face, Gohan patiently watching him.

* * *

The exchange between Gohan and Mr. Khimiya was quite interesting for Videl, to say the least. Gohan was exhibiting confidence that Videl had come to associate with the atmosphere that self-assured yet rational fighters projected. "_Is he really that smart? He may have gotten perfect scores in the entry exams, which isn't exactly easy, but I don't think he will be able to trump Mr. Khimiya…"_ When Gohan raised his hand, indicating he was finished, she thought "_Well, this will be interesting."_

* * *

Erasa watched carefully as Mr. Khimiya read Gohan's paper. Though she may not have been the best student, she was a master at reading emotions. The first sign she noticed was an extremely slight widening of their professors eyes. Then, the blood drained from his face as he blinked rapidly. He set the paper down with minutely-trembling hands, nodded to Gohan without meeting his eyes, and rushed to the front of the class. Erasa was, to say the least, shocked.

* * *

As soon as the teacher had left their area, Videl and Erasa began bombarding Gohan in whispered questions. _How did he do it?_ Videl made a request -well… more of a demand- that he show them his notes. He nodded and handed over his notebook. Videl gave him a powerful glare before resting her gaze upon the page in front of her, Erasa leaning over Videl's shoulder. As they looked through the page, the girls' eyebrows leaped off of their faces. The paper was full to the brim of advanced and intricate science, far beyond what they had ever learned. It was bursting with latin symbols, long explanations on states of matter, various laws with their definitions, and much more. Videl, upon realizing that her jaw had fallen slack, struggled to say something. After a brief period of time, she managed to say "How?" Gohan, a flash of uncertainty crossing his face, responded "How what?" "How do you know all of this stuff! This is.. is…" "INSANE." Erasa filled in. Videl nodded, staring at Gohan. "I -well, I was homeschooled my whole life… I always thought that regular school was only a bit less difficult than what I had… At least, that's what Mom told me." The two girls were dumbfounded. Videl spoke up, a small smirk in her voice. "Gohan… I hate to break it to you… but we are waaaay behind this… this stuff." Shaking her head, her shock was evident in her voice. "I don't even know what a quarter of this _is_!" Gohan scratched the back of his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Hm. I didn't expect you guys to be _that_ far behind."

After the lecture has ceased, the lab was initiated. "Students!" Mr. Khimiya called out "Please be sure you follow ALL laboratory instructions. Any skipping of safety procedure WILL result in you getting a zero on this task." At their station, Gohan was taking charge of the situation. Reading off the list of equipment and chemicals needed, he and the pair of best friends broke off. Within two minutes, they were all set, far ahead of their fellow classmates. Rushing up to the teacher's desk, Gohan spoke to his teacher. "Professor Khimiya, sir?" His old instructor had a brooding expression on his face, and his eyes were glazed over. Gohan looked around, then gently cleared his throat. "Mr. Khimiya!" His instructor jumped. "Ah yes, Gohan! Um… What is it?" "Oh, well, we just wanted to know if we had your permission to start the lab." The instructor searched Gohan's face, shocked to realize that the latter seemed to have absolutely no smugness to him (despite defeating the teacher), and actually looked more like the epitome of innocent than anything. "Yes... Yes you may, Gohan." "Thanks!" Smiling, Gohan speedily walked back to his group. Mr. Khimiya stared after him. _"Maybe not all kids these days are that bad."_

* * *

While Gohan was off talking about God-Knows-What to the teacher, Erasa was pestering Videl. "So Videl… You seem to have taken a liking for our friend Gohan..." "Cut it out, Erasa! I don't like him! I hardly know the guy! In fact, I'll bet he's simply acting deliberately awkward and 'cute' so he can get close to us, then act like any other guy and try and make out with one of us or something disgusting like that!" Videl was preparing for another onslaught of dismissals and counterarguments when Gohan made it back to the table. "Hey! He said we can start, so we better hurry!" As the three teammates delved into their experiments, it became clear that Gohan knew exactly what he was doing. In fact, it wasn't until they were halfway done that the two girls saw that Gohan had already written down the essential data for the rest of the activity. Videl's response was to punch Gohan in the arm (although not too hard, so to not injure the weakling). This was immediately followed by her snatching away his notes, ignoring his protests. "Videl, what was that for?" Videl acknowledged him by sticking out her tongue. "Well next time you should tell us when you have all the answers!"

* * *

A short while later, Gohan was looking down at his schedule. "Well, it looks like I have History next. What do you two have?" Erasa tittered for the fifth time in their three minutes since being dismissed from class. "We do too!" Gohan gave a shaky laugh. "Well, that's good. I don't know where I'd go if I didn't hang out with you guys." So, the trio went on their way to the next class.


	5. Chapter 5

Ugh. I'm sorry if this sucks, but this was particularly difficult to write. I'm not a people person, and I had to rewatch the OSH saga multiple times to truly hear the gang's voices and see what would roll off the tongue. I'm open to any reviews, so feel free to comment.

Chapter 5: The Labor of Being Normal

Gohan was doodling. Videl was glaring at her desk. Erasa was texting Sharpner and Videl, that latter of whom ignored her. And so that remained for fifty tedious minutes. Every so often, Gohan would stop drawing, glance up at the teacher, hear things he already knew, and go back to drawing. Videl, on the other hand, would occasionally stop glaring at the table, look around, see Gohan, and start glaring again. She didn't know what it was about him, but he wasn't right. She had immediately labeled him as an inactive and nervous bookworm, but recent events had ruined that image. She had seen how quickly he reacted and how well he handled the situation. Now, not only was he simply suspicious, but he now had an enigmatic aspect, making the situation much more complicated for her. "_What makes him so… Difficult?! And why the hell is he so happy?!"_ Videl's frown deepened as she stared at the doodling teen. Erasa chose this moment to disengage from her conversations and glance up. Looking around, she saw Videl staring at Gohan. Erasa whispered in a sing-song voice "Vi-delll?" Videl blinked herself out of her daze, then turned to her best friend. "Yeah?" Erasa kept her voice at a low level. "Were my eyes deceiving me, or were you just staring at Gohan?" Videl blushed lightly, attempting to remain in control. She whispered furiously "No! I was just examining my surroundings!" "_Brilliant, Videl. Good bloody job."_ Erasa smile widened. "You mean the eye-catching parts?" Videl turned away from Erasa, her nose in the air. "You're insane." Erasa giggled. "You never answered my question!"

At the end of the period, the entire class rushed to leave the cursed classroom. Gohan sighed. "_Now to find a place where I can eat in peace."_ He took off, leaving Erasa and Videl far behind. As he sped off, Videl spoke to Erasa. "Hey Erasa, I- I gotta go take care of something." Erasa smirked. "Sure. You go take care of that…" Videl sent a scathing glare at her friend which would have made Frieza beg for mercy, then ran after the runaway Saiyan.

Gohan, after extensive investigation, found a peaceful spot in a tall tree where no one would find him. Finding a comfortable position, he turned to the massive tray piled with food that he had stowed in a Hoi-Poi Capsule. Smiling, he dug into his glorious (albeit small) feast before him.

Videl was genuinely and royally pissed. She had spent a rather large portion of her lunch time looking for Gohan, and he didn't even have the decency to be anywhere. Scowling, she slumped against a tree trunk and pondered her current suspicions of Gohan. "_Could he be the Gold Fighter? Sure, there are a lot of correlations, like their time of arrival and what they both happened to be wearing, but could it really be him?"_ Videl thought that through. First of all, there's the hair. Gohan has black hair, while the Gold Fighter had, well, gold hair. But at the same time, he could probably change it back and forth, Secondly and more importantly, Gohan simply was too… Childish and innocent. _"Well, I think that's not too bad. He seems nice enough to Erasa, and isn't acting like a total suck-up to me. But that just further proves that he isn't that Gold Fighter. You have to be strong in order to be able to fight, and he's... not. Then again, I know for sure he's hiding something. For all I know, he could be from another planet! Ugh, I hate it when people lie to me." _Videl's expression darkened considerably over the course of her internal discussion. As her classic scowl gained control of her facial feature, her internal raging session was rudely interrupted by an apple to the head. Videl, though not hurt, was slightly jarred, and looked up at the tall tree she was leaning against. _"I didn't know this was an apple tree..." _As she gazed upwards, an orange hit her on the nose. The Satan girl leaped to her feet, a look of anger conflicting with her underlying feeling of complete confusion. After standing and staring up for some time, she rubbed at a pressure point in her hand, muttering "This is it, Videl. You are really losing it." However, her curiosity had been piqued, and, after a moment's contemplation, won her over. Climbing up the somewhat tall tree, she found herself face-to-face with a stuffed Saiyan.

As Videl made her way to the top, Gohan was unaware of the approaching ki. The half-human adolescent was savoring the feeling of being full (however temporary) and reflecting what had gone on in the course of his first day at school. _"It really isn't TOO bad. I suppose some of the people are mean, while others are just plain strange. I just don't know how to handle this place. As it stands right now, I have two 'friends', one of whom is a very excitable and giggly girl who continuously comments on how cute I am and reminds me an awful lot of Mrs. Briefs, while the other is a girl who spends half of her time glaring at me and the other half being distant. Then again, I can't say my friend list before this fiasco is much better. We've got the green man who fought my dad then became friends with him, the Guardian of Earth who lives in a floating palace, the bald monk who trained with my dad when they were children, the blue-haired mad scientist who shot my dad the first time they met, the Prince of All Saiyans (Need I say more?), their purple-haired child who I also met the older version from an alternate timeline, the perverted turtle hermit that trained the monk and my dad, the cyborg that broke the Prince's arms who also married the monk, the fighter-turned-world-famous-baseball player, the small mime, the three-eyed man, the thousand year-old talking turtle and the shape-shifting man-pig. So I probably shouldn't be harshly criticising my current acquaintances."_

Suddenly, one of the denoted acquaintance's face appeared near his right shoulder, shocking him out of his food-induced stupor. "Ah!" he yelped, losing his comfortable position. "Agh!" the intruding face replied, slipping out of sight. Gohan struggled a bit with stabilizing himself in the branches, before falling out of the tree head-first. Hitting the ground with his Saiyan head, he was unharmed while his point of impact left a small indent in the hard-packed dirt. "Ouch!" Upon initially evaluating the situation and seeing no damage, Videl's look of concern morphed into her patented glare. "What were you doing up there? Who do you think you are, getting the drop on me?! Gohan let his eyes close. _"Oh Dende, why me?" __**"We both know why, Gohan. You let your mother force you into yet another thing. However, I can't argue with her motives. You really need someone to talk to other than our gang." **__"Wait, what?! I don't understand! How are you even talking to me? Are you reading my mind?" __**"Well it's really cool actually, but it looks like you have some company. Have fun with that."**_

"GOHAN! Answer me!" Videl was yelling now, infuriated with the boy lying in front of her. "Gah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Gohan spouted off as he sat up, rubbing the spot where he hit the ground. Videl glowered. "Mean to what?" "Oh... I don't know. What were you asking?" Videl yelled "WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN THAT TREE?" "Oh... Well... I was eating." Videl's face, if possible, took on even more doubtful look. "Why the tree? Why didn't you sit with Erasa and I? Are we suddenly not cool enough for you?" "No! Not at all! It's just I wanted to... To leave you alone. I thought you might be tired of me after all the time we spent together in class." _"Well, that's partially true. I also don't want you to know about my eating habits that dwarf any human's appetite. Which reminds me, I wonder what's for dinner..." _Videl's expression softened significantly, the name-calling incident still fresh in her mind. _"Poor guy. He thinks he was bothering us... That's thoughtful of him... Wait, stop. You don't know this guy, so we can't fully believe him right off the bat." _"It's okay, Gohan. You're alright." _"Way to go, girl. Now he thinks you like him." _"So... Why a tree?" "Oh, ah, it's just it seems that people don't seem to like me too much, so I found a nice spot where there's no talking required." Videl nodded thoughtfully at that. "Fair enough. Do you want to hang out with me and Erasa for the rest of the break?" "I just finished eating, but sure. Yeah, I would love to!" "Come on then." Videl offered her hand to Gohan, who was still sitting on the ground. As he reached his hand to meet her's, Videl felt a curious sensation, one that she had come to associate with unstudied tests and mobs of inescapable reporters. It was an extremely slight feeling that a ball had dropped in her stomach, the briefest echo of a twinge in her abdomen. "_That's odd. I must be really hungry, or maybe I'm forgetting something for my next class."_ While Videl was still attempting to figure out the feeling, Gohan leaped up onto his feet, not applying any pull on the offered hand. Though he knew perfectly well that he didn't need it, the demi-Saiyan figured that it would be kindest to accept. Brushing off his pants, he jumped into the tree, grabbed his bag, and jumped down next to Videl, who subsequently stated "Follow me."

Soon, the two teens were in the outdoor eating area. As they walked towards where Erasa was beckoning them, Gohan noticed a long-haired blond boy next to her. Gohan remembered him from the first class, but struggled to recall anything about this guy. The saiyan sat next to Videl and across from Erasa. Looking diagonally across the table, Gohan met the boy's eyes. "Hello. My name's Gohan. It's nice to meet you." The boy nodded his head once and said "Hey. I'm Sharpner." Videl began digging into her lunch as Sharpner began asking questions. "So, Gohan, do you do any sports? Baseball? Basketball? Martial arts?" Gohan looked curiously at Sharpner, who was trying to gauge Gohan's coolness level. _"Quick! I need to make up something that doesn't sound insane, but doesn't make me sound like a total loser!_" "Not really. I do run a bit though." Sharpner nodded, asking a few more questions about what terrain he thought was best and his favorite weather for running. After a few more questions on the same line, he told Gohan. "You should try out martial arts. That way you could compete against Videl and I." "Wait… You practice martial arts as well?" The trio of friends stared at Gohan in disbelief. Videl spluttered "Of course I do martial arts! I fight crime! My dad's the world champ!" Gohan's expression shifted to one that matched his exact emotions: Complete befuddlement. "Hang on. You're a crime-fighter?" Videl slapped her forehead. "YES!" Sharpner's face was that of complete disbelief. "How did you not already know that?" Gohan shrugged while feeling regretful of his decision to open his mouth. "I don't know. I'm rather isolated from the world from where I live." Erasa jumped in. "But how? It sounds like before today, you've only known school stuff! Have you been trapped inside a bubble your whole life? Have you ever met other people outside your family? Where do you even live?" Sharpner shook his head and chuckled. "Which one do you want him to answer first?" "I really don't mind. I spend a lot of time outdoors, but I'm isolated because we live quite a bit aways from Satan City. As you two know, I was homeschooled all my life up until now, but I still have some friends. It's just they are either way older or younger than me, while others live very far away." Videl quickly responded "Have you ever been in a city before?" At that question, Gohan smiled. "Yeah. The friends that live closest to us are in West City, so I make fairly frequent trips there. But this is my first time being in this kind of place. Doesn't it ever get a bit… Crowded?" Videl nodded "It can get a little packed." Erasa furrowed her brows, before shaking her head. "Nah. I like it. I'm a city girl." Sharpner nodded. "Yeah. I am too." Videl laughed "Really, Sharpner? You too?" Sharpner was momentarily bewildered, before his face rapidly turned red. "No no! Not THAT way!" The others laughed at Sharpner's embarrassment, before settling a moment later. As if on cue, the bell rang, indicating the end of lunch. "Gohan, what class do you have next?" Erasa asked. Gohan pulled his schedule out of his pocket, unfolded it, and carefully scanned through it. "I have… Advanced Placement Calculus." Videl glared at Erasa, whose lips were already forming a sinister-ish smile. "Great! You can hang out with Videl! Sharpie and I didn't make it into the AP class, but I'm sure it's easy for you!" The four teenagers split up into two groups. Videl walked to her respective class, Gohan in tow, with Sharpner in a similar situation. As the two dark-haired adolescents made their way towards the math class, Videl could distinctly hear her best friend call out "Have fun, you two!" "_I swear to God I could kill her sometimes."_


	6. Chapter 6

I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE NEW DRAGON BALL SERIES. OH MY GOOOODDD!

On a more refined note, here's the next chapter. Please provide feedback. Be especially critical with the combat scene, since this is the first of many.

Thank you!

Chapter 6: A Mysterious Intervention

As class settled in, the teacher, Mrs. Laskenta, was quick to point out the presence of a new student, Gohan Son. As he waved to the class, many of whom he already had been introduced to, he felt dozens of eyes pointing at him. He then attempted to slouch to the point where he would be out of sight. "_Why are they all of a sudden so interested in me? The people in the first class didn't care about a new student, but now they all are paying attention! What's wrong? Is there food on my face? Did-did my tail grow back?!"_ As Gohan's hand inconspicuously shot to his behind to check for any sign of Saiyan individuality, Videl was thinking about the eyes going his way as well. _"This is odd. Usually they just give a once-over of the new kid, but now they seem to be especially interested in him. I wonder why... Oh! Of course! It's because I'm sitting with him! They probably think I like him or something! Ugh, if this leads to rumors, I'm going to beat someone u-"_

* * *

A loud beeping rang out in the classroom. Reaching her hand to her watch, she put her head near her device. The whole class (including the teacher) seemed to hold their breath. "Go ahead, Chief." Videl spoke into her wristwatch. Gohan cocked his head. _"What's going on?" _A canned voice was heard through the speakers "Videl! There is a big problem! From what we can tell, around fifteen gang members took control of an office complex and are demanding 20,000,000 zeni for the safe release of their hostages!" "Alright Chief. I'm on my way." Videl looked at the teacher. "Sorry ma'am but-" "It's of no consequence, Videl. We all know that the city requires your services. You're dismissed." Videl sprinted out the door while waving. Gohan looked after her. _"What's going on? Is this what she meant by being a crime-fighter? Why are the police calling her?" _Gohan closed his eyes and sat up straight. _"Now, where are you...?" _He felt around in the many ki signatures in his presence. All of them were quite low, but there was one high power level on the roof. Now it was... Taking off! _"She can fly? Oh wait, she probably has a helicopter in a capsule, like Bulma's."_ As he continued his tracking of Videl, he felt some anxiety. Glancing around, he saw that the teacher had gone back to teaching and the students had gone back to not listening. "_How are they so relaxed? Their classmate just went off to fight some gunmen, and they're acting as though there's nothing out of the ordinary."_ Gohan thought. It suddenly hit Gohan that there _was_ nothing out of the ordinary. "_She must do this pretty often… That's why she said 'I should have stopped him' when we met this morning... I hope she doesn't make a connection."_

After one minute of Videl being gone, Gohan couldn't sit still. _"Ugh! If only I had the same sensing capabilities that Piccolo has, I would be able to know if she was okay. I just want to know how she's doing."_

"Excuse me, ma'am? May I use the restroom?"

"Sure, but be sure to hurry back. The next section we are covering is very important." Gohan sprinted out the door as slow as he could make himself go. Once on the roof, and absolutely sure no one was watching, he removed his school badge that he realized he had not taken off that morning, went Super Saiyan and took off from the roof.

Sailing through the air, Gohan made a few spirals and loops to work off the stifling feeling he had accumulated during class. As he made his way towards where he felt Videl's ki, he reflected on what he was doing. _"If mom ever finds out I left class under the cover of going to the bathroom, I'm dead... But still, it's the safety of my classmate, and in all reality, she's one of the few people that are remotely close to an acquaintance. A friend's life is worth a few minutes of missed lessons that are redundant to my overall education, right? I hope mom sees it that way. Otherwise I might as well start selecting my casket now."_

* * *

Videl was having some problems. The first one was that she was having to combat quite a few men who would have liked to kill her. Secondly, those particular guys also have guns in their direct possession. And finally, they understood the 'point-and-shoot' concept of the modern firearm. Now, this usually wasn't too difficult of a problem, but the fact that hostages were involved also added a certain level of stress to the situation. To top it all off, these gangsters were almost average intelligence, which meant that they could actually count and strategize, which were usually features that criminals lacked, often leading to her advantage. Just then, she was pinned behind a column as one gunman shot a spray of bullets. As soon as the incessant banging stopped, she ran across the hall to a walkway leading deeper into the building. _"How am I going to do this? I need to get rid of these three guys who currently have me pinned down with gunfire, then go and find the rest of them, along with the hostages."_ Peeking out, she saw that they were slowly approaching, weapons at the ready. Bringing her head back, Videl quickly figured a way out. As soon as she saw the first gun poke into her view, Videl ducked below the armed arm, bringing her hand up to grab the firearm. Yanking the weapon out of the first crook's hand, she used the momentum he had gained from having his gun pulled away to let him slam into her elbow. The two other armed men, who had been watching the quick (and one-sided) battle realized that their friend was down, and they might soon be following his path. Raising their rifles, one found the butt of the first gun slamming into his forehead, blinding him with pain before falling unconscious. The second gunman proved no more difficult, and was just as easily dispatched. Within seven seconds, she was finished with them.

As she ran around the next corner, Videl encountered another two criminals. Using their shock at the sudden appearance of someone, she ducked as they shakily brought up their guns. Doing a somersault, she brought her fist up and connected with the crook's forehead. Unfortunately, the second of the two was smart enough to turn and fire a volley of shots. Each one of these bullets comically missed their mark, who dodged out of the way and dropped to the ground, sweeping her leg under the criminal's. As she stood, he fell to the ground. She swiftly kicked his head, applying just enough force to knock him out, but not to kill him. As she stood up and looked ahead, her heart stopped. The hooligans managed to sneak into the room and surround her. Videl was effectively trapped.

* * *

As Gohan passed overhead, he observed all of the buildings stretching out before him. Locating several flashing lights, he quickly found the crime scene. Gracefully twisting in the air, he landed lightly at the front of the building. Wasting no time, he ran into the building, leaving the cops that were outside with no evidence except for the blinding light that was burned into their retinas. "What the hell was that?" On cop cried out, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Gohan flew through the long hallways as little more than a blur. Sensing Videl's ki in one particular area towards the center, he sped towards her location. As soon as he arrived, he saw she was done for. The gangsters had started a game of having seven of the nine remaining criminals simultaneously attacking her, with the other two watching with their guns at the ready, scared she could manage to break through. Gohan knew better, though. While she was standing up well against the seven, she was gradually losing energy, and every now and then a fist would get a bit too close for comfort. Gohan decided at this point to step in. _"Don't let her see you, though. I may be Super Saiyan, but I have a feeling she would figure out who I am if she meets me in this form."_ With that thought in mind, he leaped into action.

Running up to the gunmen, he flicked the two of them on their cheeks, sending them flying through the air, already knocked out cold. Next, he went to the jumble of crooks attempting to hit Videl. The tides were obviously turning out of her favor, so Gohan quickly handled them. Grabbing one after another, he tossed them ten feet behind him, throwing one new one before the previous` body had even reached the apex of their parabolic path. After all of two seconds, Gohan grabbed the last one and sent him flying to land on his comrades. He zoomed over to them, tying each of them up with their shirts in under four seconds, and dashed out of the room, stopping for less than a deci-second to turn and check Videl for any damage. _"Nothing major."_ He internally noted. _"Just slightly shaken. She really is a fighter. A good one at that. Especially for a human."_

* * *

Videl, who had fallen on her bottom, chest heaving, tried to figure out what was going on. She was fighting those guys, they had been gaining on her, then… then what? "_Alright. They were starting to team up on me and actually start fighting me, then there was bright flash and they all went flying. That's the most I can think of"_ Looking up, she saw a golden… god. A tall, glowing figure regarding her for the tiniest of instances before he disappeared into thin air. Needless to say, Videl was quite perplexed.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Gohan's Problem

Touching down gently in the roof, Gohan glanced at his watch. He had been gone for a little over five minutes. Sprinting down the staircase and through the intricate corridors, he soon found himself at the door to his classroom. Breathing deeply, he stepped into the classroom. The teacher glanced over, nodded at Gohan, then went on with her lecture. As Gohan approached his seat, he thought _"That was incredibly simple. I saved Videl and stopped a crime in the average timeframe of a bathroom break!" _Sitting down, he looked at the clock, then the schedule in his pocket. _"After this class is over, which is in.. five? Yes. Five minutes, the I have... PE. Oh sweet Kai, why?"_ Gohan began fidgeting. _"How am I going to hide my strength? If they see how strong I am, everyone will think I am a freak! How bad would that be, being called a freak AND a nerd. Ugh. I don't know how I'll be able to handle this. Maybe I can just pretend to-" _"Hey, Gohan." Gohan jumped.

* * *

Videl slumped into her chair. Thinking quickly, he responded. "Oh hey, Videl. How'd the crime-fighting thing go?" She glared at him for a second, before letting her face relax. _"I still don't get how he managed to keep out of contact with the whole world for so long. I mean, he doesn't even seem to care who I am!"_

_"Although you don't really don't seem to mind it."_

_"Shut up! I'll bet he's faking or something."_

Temporarily dismissing her internal conflict, she responded "Oh. It was... Different. This glowing guy who I'm pretty sure is the same "Gold Fighter" from this morning showed up and helped me... Not that I needed his help! I had the situation totally under control and he shows up with his flashy light tricks and pointlessly tried to assist me! Who does that guy think I am, a damsel in distress?"

* * *

Videl was growing more and more agitated. Gohan, all the while, was trying to hide discomfort with the scenario. _"Why do I even bother? People don't seem to like me no matter what I do! I thought I was helping..." _Scratching the back of his head and chuckling nervously he exclaimed "Well, I don't know you all too well, but I'd bet that you're right."

* * *

Videl looked at him oddly. "_I totally forgot that I thought he was the Gold Fighter just a couple hours ago. It's ridiculous, when I think about it now. He's so happy and upbeat, I don't think he would have the heart to fight crime. Plus, he's probably way too weak."_ The bell rung, indicating the end of the fourth period. As the class shuffled out, Videl and Gohan made their way to gym.

* * *

As Gohan trailed the raven-haired girl, he was still reeling from her comments prior. "_Wow. She claims that she doesn't need help, but the fight she was engaging in hardly seemed like a battle she could win. Then again, the police called her... So she must be better than I thought at martial arts."_ Gohan continued pondering this as he trundled behind Videl, not realizing she had stopped before bumping into her.

* * *

Videl had stopped when she saw Erasa and Sharpner walking towards her. To her surprise, her cessation of motion was short-lived. A large solid object bumped into her from behind, sending her sprawling on the floor. Turning around furiously, she opened her mouth to angrily say "What the hell?!" when she was rudely cut off by "OhmygoodnessVidelIamsososorryIdidn'tmeantoIswear!" Videl's words died in her throat. Gohan was staring at her, his cheeks painted a bright, vibrant red, though his hands were attempting to hide this feature, and his whole face in general. Instead of her initial retort, she adopted an angry expression. "Watch where you're going, Gohan!" He looked down in shame. "I-I'm sorry, Videl. I wasn't paying attention."

He extended his hand out, an offering that mirrored the situation that just occurred hours before. Grabbing his hand, she swiftly pulled herself to her feet, paying no attention to the minuscule tingling she felt in her abdomen, instead noting how strong his grip was. As she straightened her knees, Erasa approached them. In a sing-song voice that Videl swore was a bit sweeter than usual Erasa asked "Sooo what happened here?" Videl felt a light flush reach fall over her face. "_I know what you're thinking, Erasa. I'll get you for this. I can only hope that Gohan doesn't understand."_ Looking at the person in question, she saw that (naturally) he had no idea what Erasa implying. Videl attempted to end the awkward pause that had seized the air. "Well, I saw you two, then Mr. Blumbering Idiot here walked into me. And IF YOU'RE DONE ERASA, WE SHOULD GET TO CLASS?"

* * *

Videl heavily emphasized the last few words, leaving Gohan wincing and rubbing his ears. "_Jeez. Why did she have to yell like that?" _As the four teens walked towards PE, Gohan continued massaging his ears. They stopped at the front of the gymnasium, where the rest of the class was accumulating. The PE teacher held the door open and hustled the students through. "C'mon! Let's go! We don't have all day!" As the students shuffled through the doorway Gohan couldn't help but wonder what fresh hell he had in store for him.

The huge gym facility was well-kept and clean, the air smelling of the mix of paint, cleaner, and sweat. One of the advantages of being a school in Satan City was the money constantly flowing from Hercule that paid for maintenance and upkeep of the gymnastic equipment. Gohan was amazed. The sheer size of the building adjacent to the school had impressed him from the exterior, but it seemed much larger on the inside. Sharpner caught his stunned expression. "Pretty impressive, huh, Brains? I don't blame ya. Even after all this time, this place still gets me." He smirked. "One of the many great things about living in Satan City, I guess. Not only do we have the Savior of the World, but we also get kickass workout gear." Gohan could see the soundness of the blonde male's logic. "_Except for the fact that the Savior is weaker than my seven year-old brother."_ Gohan suddenly was hit with the memory of Hercule flying into a mountain while 'fighting' Cell. Snickering, he realized Sharpner was looking at him oddly. "What's so funny?" Clearing his throat, he stammered "Oh, i-it's really nothing. I just remembered something." The teacher, seeing as all the students had been corralled into the huge basketball area, began taking roll. As he glanced between his clipboard and the mass of students who were roving around. Frowning, he called out "Is there a 'Gohan' here?" "Right here, sir." "Okay... I'm sorry, but don't recall you from the last two weeks." "Today's my first day." "Oh. Well then, when I'm done taking roll, you come and talk to me." Taking a minute longer, Coach Allenarsi finished his roll call and addressed Gohan, who was patiently waiting. "Well Gohan, let me give you a walk-around. Our workout facility is quite large, so we don't want you getting lost." As the two disappeared through the door to the training room, Gohan's acquaintances were having a discussion. What about, you ask? Well, who other than our adorable adolescent Son?

* * *

"I'm just not too sure about him, Erasa. He's hiding something. I know it." Erasa glared at her. "And yet you fail to give any reason why." "Whatever. He's probably just some shallow jerk with no personality and just happens to be good at lying." Erasa frowned. "Videl, you need to be a bit more trusting! What makes you so against Gohan? You seem to be cool enough with him around. He's done nothing but be awkward, which is something that I would imagine any normal person would do, given that they hadn't hung out with anyone their own age their ENTIRE LIFE!" Sharpner followed with "I agree with Erasa. You're being a real bitch to the bookworm." In reply, Videl punched his arm. The result was Sharpner crying on the ground. Getting off the ground unsteadily, he tearfully asked "What was that for?" Videl just rolled her eyes and said "Just shut the hell up, Sharpner." "Videl! Don't use that language!" The trio whirled around to see Coach Allenarsi nearing them, Gohan behind him. "You full well know we don't support the use of that language at this school."

"Sorry, sir." "On a different note, I was wondering if you three would be as kind as to let Gohan tag along with you three for the day. In fact, I might as well make this a free activity day, just so that you can show him the ropes." Gohan's face paled. "No thank you, Coach I think I-" "Alright! That sounds awesome! Sure, we'll let Gohan hang out with us!" Sharpner shouted. "Great. It's settled then. Gohan, these people will show you around. Now everybody!" He addressed the entire class. "Sorry to keep you waiting! Today will be a free activity day." He paused as a loud cheer rose from the students. "So get into your lockers and get ready for an exciting day of PE!" He frowned. "That reminds me, Gohan. we need to get you your locker."

* * *

Once the class reconvened in the indoor basketball court, Videl spoke to Gohan. "Alright. So on days like these, we basically get to choose whatever we want to do. And as long as it involves burning calories, we probably have it. So... We might as well start looking for something now."

* * *

They ended up playing a nice game of baseball. It was the only sport that they could agree on. Videl wanted to fight, but Erasa vetoed her, on the grounds that they were to "show Gohan around, not beat him up" and that she didn't feel like getting "all gross and wrestling other people". Sharpner agreed with her, but Videl knew it was because he didn't want his macho appearance to Gohan ruined by him being beaten by her. This process of conflicting opinions and overruling ideas for ten minutes before they could agree on playing baseball with some other students. The teams ended up with Erasa and Sharpner on one side with Videl and Gohan opposing them. Videl was the pitcher for her team, while Gohan was playing second base. The first two batters struck out before Sharpner got up. Smirking, he stepped up to the plate. Videl said "Get ready to be struck out!" Sharpner responded smugly "In your dreams." Surely enough, Sharpner's swing made solid contact with the ball, sending it flying on course of a home run.

* * *

Gohan was extremely bored. Prior to the game he was in, he had never played baseball. He had merely read books that touched on the subject. He probably could have played a game against Yamcha, who last he heard was doing nicely in the baseball world, but it never struck him as too interesting. It didn't help that the first two people struck out, making the game all the less exciting for the half-Saiyan. Suddenly, his thoughts were disrupted by a loud crack. Looking up from the dust he was kicking up, he saw Videl, Sharpner, and the rest of the players looking up. Following their eyes, Gohan saw the ball flying overhead. Turning, he saw that the center-fielder was just gaping at the ball, the former unaware that the outfielder already knew that he couldn't get the ball. Gohan, recalling that it was his job to catch the ball, took off. Trying his hardest to keep at human speeds, he speedily passed the center-fielder. "_The ball has passed its vertex and is beginning its descent. If it continues its path, it will be out of the park, which is a home-run, which also means that the other team would get a point."_ Leaping into the air, he caught the ball and let himself fall to the ground as though he were subjected to the laws of gravity. As he stood up, he smiled. "I caught the ball, which must mean that Sharpner is out." Walking forward, he continued remaining completely and blissfully unaware of the shocked stares he was at the receiving end of. "HEY VIDEL!" He yelled. "I CAUGHT THE BALL. THAT'S AN OUT. HOW MANY OUTS DO WE NEED? ISN'T IT THREE?"

Videl realized that her jaw was once again slack. Clenching her teeth, she glared at him. As he walked up to her, he saw her anger and suddenly realized the looks he was getting from the people, which varied from complete and utter awe to gazes that almost look like they were of fear. "What? What's wrong?" Videl lost her fiery look in less than a second, substituting it for what she really felt: Shock. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT'S WRONG? WHAT'S WRONG IS THAT YOU JUMPED TEN FEET IN THE AIR!" Gohan's face drained. "_Oh sweet Kami above."_ "Um... Oops? I got new -um- air-cushioned shoes! They really help, you know? These things certainly put a spring in your step." Videl opened her mouth for another assault on Gohan's ears when he interrupted her. "Videl! Three outs is a change of innings, right?" To his great surprise, he sensed that Videl's power level, however small, was swelling to about 1/500,000 of his own. The rise quickly subsided, however, and she just scowled at him suspiciously. "... Yeah."

Soon everyone began shuffling to their respective dugouts, many of whom coming to accept the validity of air cushions and their abilities to defy gravity. Next, Videl and Gohan's team went up to bat. Videl was first, so she naturally got triple (and that's only because her concentration was still on Gohan). For Gohan, the wait on the bench to get up to bat seemed forever, despite him being the fifth up to bat. Around him, people whispered and occasionally asked him where he got his shoes. He would then reply that his mother got them for him as a gift. He managed that for the first two minutes, before Videl got batted in. When she came into the dugout, she had a look on her face that made Gohan wish he knew Instant Transmission. She sat down where there was only one person protecting Gohan from the... Eyes. But that quickly changed when the person (meat shield) between them stood up because of the discomfort from Videl's calculating glare. "_Oh no! DON'T LEAVE ME. I swear if she could use ki she would learn to use the beam eyes. She has a natural talent for it."_ Gohan almost burst out laughing before he remembered the situation he was in.

It was about ninety agonizing seconds before he was up to bat. Walking up to the plate, he called out to Sharpner, who was pitcher, asking what side he should be on. Sharpner shook his head. "_If this guy had any less of a life he would be a zombie."_ "Whatever works for you, Gohan!" Gohan then positioned himself on the right side of the plate. "Hey, Gohan! You sure you want to stand there?" Gohan looked inquisitively back. "Um... Yeah?" Sharpner shook his head once more. "_All right. Let's see what this guy is made of."_ Gohan was in a different place. "_This is really difficult. How am I supposed to suppress my strength to the level of these people? Shrinking my ki is easy, but this is impossible."_ Continuing to rant in his head, he failed to pay attention to the outside world until the ball left Sharpner's hand. For the bystanders, the ball was but a blur, but for Gohan, it was slow enough to find an analogy for his situation, then realize the ball was right in front of him. Completely forgetting his mental conference less than one second prior, he decided it would be best to tap the ball. Wrong choice.

The bat in Gohan's hand shattered. The ball flew across the field, passing the bleachers before it even began noticeably curving, and disappeared into a tiny dot in the distance. Gohan took off running to first, then to second, then third, and finally home. Stepping on the plate, he felt a great sense of euphoria on getting a home run on his first try. The euphoria died when he saw that the people who had just excused his catch from earlier as special shoes were, once again, staring at him. Looking around, he noticed that Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner were no exception. Gohan nervously chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Well... I'm sure it was an old bat. The force that was exerted on it at that specific point probably applied too much pressure in that area, which led to the systematic destruction of the material." Gohan knew full well that he was rambling lies, but he spouted random long words to make it sound more valid. After a second or two of comprehension, the players started nodding. Videl's eyes narrowed. _"He thinks he can deceive me. Gohan, I'll figure you out if it's the last thing I do."_

* * *

As the baseball players returned to the mass of students milling around in the indoor basketball courts waiting for access to the locker rooms, Gohan heard whispered conversations of the misadventures at the field. He also noticed that a lot of girls were smiling at him and greeting him. After managing to escape back to his 'friends', Gohan just resigned himself to the idea that girls his age were weird. Walking up to the trio, he was met by a smile from Erasa, a glare from Videl, and a nod from Sharpner. The blonde male suddenly frowned and said "Hey bookworm. Why aren't you sweating? It was easily 85 degrees out there, and you're wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt!" Gohan glanced at his clothing, then looked up. "Well, there wasn't much of a workout, and the sweat from then must have -um- evaporated." He smiled sheepishly and looked at the ground. Videl studied him. _"Bizarre! Sharpner's right! Gohan looks like he hasn't sweat a drop. And even I had some sweat! And he thinks he didn't have a workout!... Which reminds me..."_ Shooting a glare at Gohan, Videl said "I'll be right back, guys." She briskly walked to the coach, who had just finished supervising the teens in the workout room. "Hey, Coach Allenarsi? I was wondering, how old was the bat that we use for the baseball field?" He frowned. "What an odd question. We only started using it five days ago. Why?" Videl grinned, happy that she'd managed to solidify some of her incriminating evidence against Gohan. _"I've got one on you now, Gohan."_ "Oh. It's just a student managed to break it." The coach raised an eyebrow, then chuckling. "Wow. I'm impressed. Tell Sharpner to go easy on the bats when you see him." Videl nodded mindlessly, her mind elsewhere. "Okay. I'll talk to you later, Coach."

* * *

Gohan speed-walked down the street. After saying goodbye to his new "friends" he sped away, desperate to get away from the school, the city, and Videl. After returning from talking to the coach, she had a look in her eyes that made Gohan fear for his life. Her eyes took on a strange look, which he felt had the chilling feeling of... Dissection. Shaking off the shivers in his body, he walked along the main road, then ducked into a small alleyway. Probing for nearby kis, he found nothing close to him except for a small animal ten feet away.

Gohan took a deep breath and took off into the air. Pausing only when he was 1500 feet off the ground, Gohan looked down at the tiny buildings below him and their even tinier occupants. Peace fell over him in his calm state brought by the relative quiet of his position. Gohan then looked above him to the clouds. "NIMBUUUSS!" His Saiyan hearing immediately heard the cloud's unique and strange noise closing in on him. Gohan only waited a few seconds before the orange transport flew underneath him, allowing him to gently descend into a cross-legged position. Speaking to the cloud, Gohan said "Alright, Nimbus. I want to go to Bulma's house in West City. Can you do that?" In response, the miniature and miscolored cumulus began humming with power before shooting off at a speed that almost sent Gohan flying off. Scrambling on his hands and knees, the Saiyan barely managed to stable himself as Nimbus sped towards the Briefs household. "Woah there, Nimbus! You almost made me fall!" Seemingly out of spite, his unconventional method of transportation began doing flips and spirals, all the while maintaining its high-speed course. Smiling to himself, Gohan allowed himself to enjoy the bliss freedom he felt on the orange cloud.

* * *

In little time, Nimbus glided down in the back of the Capsule Corporation's main compound. Before jumping to the ground, Gohan made sure his power level was still extremely low so that he wouldn't have to train with The Prince. It wasn't that Gohan was weak, seeing as he had managed to juggle his studies with training to keep his mother happy and satisfy his Saiyan need for conflict. If anything, Gohan was far stronger than ever. However, he didn't feel like having to talk to His Royal Highness about school and have Vegeta poke fun at him. As he made his way through the hallways that rivaled his high school's in both intricacy and length, Gohan felt Vegeta's power rise and fall repeatedly, indicating the obvious fact that he was training. Entering the Brief's huge living area, he was, for the second time that day, nearly knocked to the ground, this time due to a purple-haired maniac tackling him in a hug. "Hey Gohan! What's up? Are you here to play? Is Goten with you?" Laughing at the excitedness of the small and energetic Trunks, Gohan couldn't resist the pleading look the Saiyan heir had. _"Poor Trunks. He probably only really gets to play with Goten, and that's only once or twice a week! Well... Since I'm here... I might as well play with him..."_ "Sorry, Trunks. I don't have Goten with me. But I can play, only for a little while, though. I still have to go home and do homework." Trunks' face slightly grimaced in disgust. "Why do you HAVE to go to school? You're already smarter and stronger than everyone there! You know that Dad gets bored and forces ME to train with him instead of you, right?" Gohan rolled his eyes. "It's just what my mom wants me to do. Speaking of which, where's Bulma? In the lab?" "In the lab." "Thanks, Trunks. I'll talk to her for a bit, then I'll be able to play. But only for a little while, okay?" The young half-Saiyan nodded happily. Gohan turned and walked through the house to Bulma's lab.

"Hello? Bulma?" "Over here, Gohan!" Glancing in the direction of the sound, he located her at a workbench studying some diagrams for a robot. "Hey! Whatcha got there?" Bulma stood up, rubbing her temples and shaking her head. "Oh, just a project I'm doing for Vegeta." Sighing, she opened her eyes and smiled at Gohan. She quickly pulled him into a hug, then began launching her inquiries. "How've you been? How was school? Did you make any friends?" Gohan shrugged. "I've been doing okay. School was... Manageable, I guess. The people there were confusing and mean, and it's weird meeting people of MY generation. As for friends... I don't know. I guess I could say that I've met a few people that I got along with..." He paused, casting his eyes to the ground in tiredness, then focusing on the drawings on the nearby papers. Tilting his head to see fully upright, Gohan was quite interested. "So Bulma, what is this? Why would Vegeta need anything other than food and the Gravity Room?" Bulma once again shook her head. "Well, ever since Chi-Chi started prepping you to go to school, Veggie was upset because after 7 years of having you around, he'd have no one to train against. Then, I had the idea that there could be robots that he could test himself against in the Gravity Room. That way he'd have a challenge. The problem is is that they need to be extremely durable and energy efficient. Of course in order to make something engaging for HIM I need to make something which is turning out to be impossible to power. Kami forbid he MAKES SOMETHING EASY FOR ME!" Gohan winced and rubbed his temples, but continued staring down the designs. She continued, a lighter tone in her voice. "Although... he has been taking Trunks to the park lately, which is nice..." "Bulma, I think I found your problem. You need to make the designs capable of external charging so the Vegeta releases in his blasts and his aura can be used. I think that nanocrystal solar structures would be best, so that it absorbs more energy and they don't break as easily." Bulma examined the diagrams, anticipating the substitutions she would have to make and their outcomes. "That's... Very good, Gohan! Thank you!" Gohan smiled. "It's no problem. By the way, I was wondering if you could do me a favor..." He paused, inhaling deeply. "I was wondering if you could help me with fighting crime."

Bulma grinned, then laughed. "Wow! Fighting crime? This is interesting. Sounds like you've got a bit of your father in you." Gohan's face faltered into a look of sadness for a fraction of a second, before reappearing just as fast. "Gohan, I don't understand how you need help protecting people. What is it that you exactly need?" Gohan paused, attempting to get his thoughts in order. "Well... There's this girl in my class..." Bulma's eyebrows nearly jumped off of her face. "What?! Really, Gohan? Do I need to let Chi know?" Gohan blushed a deep hue of red. "Not like that, Bulma! Anyways, she helps the police with fighting criminals. The police chief calls _her _for help! She's a great fighter and does her job well, but she's not..." Bulma nodded. "Immune to bullets? Able to fly? Can sense life forms?" Gohan shrugged. "Basically. Today, I fought criminals twice as a Super Saiyan. Everyone seems to know about me now. They even call me 'The Gold Fighter'. The thing is, this girl is very suspicious of me, and I'm afraid that she will eventually find out that I am the Gold Fighter. And I can't imagine how angry Mom would be if she found out that I ruined our private life do fight some crooks." Bulma regarded Gohan with a partially thoughtful, partially sympathetic look, nodding slowly. After some time, she finally spoke. "Well, Gohan... It looks like you need a disguise."

Gohan was pleasantly surprised. "_A disguise? I wasn't expecting that. It's almost like... like..."_ "Like I'm a superhero?" Bulma chuckled. "Well, Gohan. You do have all of the traits of one." Gohan dwelled on that statement for a few seconds before nodding slowly. He grinned as he said "I can't wait to see what Goten will think of this." "Speaking of which, Gohan, did you tell your mother you would be here after school?" Gohan nodded. "Yeah. I told her I would stop by to check in on you guys. She also mentioned something about a dress?" Bulma gasped. "Oh yeah! Hang on. I'll go get it." She quickly departed to her room on the other side of the massive complex. Hurridly leaving him, Gohan was left in the laboratory to find something to entertain himself.

Sighing, Gohan walked about the massive room, in which a few remnants of the past laid scattered about. In one corner of the room, the severely damaged scouter worn by Raditz sat in a glass container. Further along the wall, a piece of Nappa's pod lay on the counter, heavily dissected. Gohan continued his walk along the vertical patchwork compilation of his life. Here, a preserved blade of grass from Namek. There, a remnant of Saiyan armor. Nearing the end of the walk of memories, he saw something that made his heart stop. A large picture was mounted on the wall. On it, a group of people crowded around. Goku, Chi-Chi, Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha, Puar, Tien, Chiaotzu, Oolong, Roshi, Turtle, and the Ox King all were smiling at the camera. Gohan slowly got closer. _"This must be from before I was born!"_ He smiled at the way his father was laughing and how his mother was beaming into the camera. Gohan felt himself being drawn into the group photo, wanting beyond anything and everything else to enter that distant world and stay there eternally. "Gohan?" He jumped as he returned to the real world. Whirling around, he caught sight of the intruder and subsequently relaxed. "Oh. Hey, Bulma. Sorry. I was just looking at your collection of memoirs." "It's nothing. I've got your mom's dress in this." She tossed him a capsule. "And I was thinking about your outfit. I already have a prototype sort-of waiting for the occasion, but I can make a few quick adjustments if you need them. What exactly are you looking for?" Gohan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't really know. I didn't really put much thought into my costume... Maybe something cool, but practical." Bulma laughed. "I think I know what you mean. How about you go play with Trunks while I work on it?" "Sure thing. I already promised to play with him anyways. Thanks, Bulma!" As they exited the room, she said "Don't thank me yet, but I think you'll like it."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Bulma found Gohan and Trunks playing tag. Calling a halt to the game, the blue-turquoise haired scientist told the elder of the two to switch his watch with the one she was holding. Confused but interested, Gohan did as he was told. "Alright. Now press the red button on the side of the watch." He looked down to his wrist and found what she instructed him to push. Pressing it once, Gohan and Trunks watched in amazement as his body flashed with pulsating light that seemed to expand from his watch and creep slowly over his body. When the flickering ceased, Gohan found that his eyes had some sort of shading on them and numbers were running across his vision. Running in front of nearby mirror, he felt his breath catch.

Gohan's head was mostly covered by a red helmet with a black visor, which not only shaded and hid his eyes, but also seemed to have a scouter-type device built into the display. Glancing at a grinning Bulma, he saw that it locked onto her face and gave him her name, power level, age, and occupation. Turning back to the mirror, Gohan noticed a movement from behind him, before realizing he had a sweeping cape that matched the deep red hue of his helmet. Gohan smiled. "_This is awesome!" _Assessing his figure, he realized that it was covered with a lightweight black body suit that clung to his form, covering almost all of his skin. From his armored shoulders to his mid thigh, a lime green tunic loosely fit his form. Gohan's hands were covered with long white gloves that reached up his forearm. His feet were clad with white and yellow boots that appeared to be from Saiyan armor. As his eyes continued wandering over his own structure, Gohan caught sight of something he did not expect on his belt buckle.

"Bulma... Is that the four star dragon ball?!" Bulma nodded. "Yep. I built the basics for the whole suit as the perfect armor for any of the Z Fighters, should the occasion ever arise. I figured that having it on someone who I entrusted this suit with would be a great way to keep it safe and have a way to track the wearer's location with the dragon radar. Plus, if the watch somehow breaks, the dragon ball will be released. Isn't it cool that it's the same one you wore as a child? Anyways, that's really unimportant compared to the other stuff I've got on here. The helmet is my favorite, in my opinion. It has advanced GPS and uses news sources, social media, and Capsule Corporation's data records from all across the world in order to identify a person. It will also automatically tune into police radio frequencies. As for the armor, it's got very little, since most human weapons can't touch you. The gloves are a special blend of high-grade polyester and carbon nanotubes that are actually able to remain solid with ki movement, though it isn't too durable if you're using anything like the kamehameha wave. The boots and shoulder pads are lightweight variations of Vegeta's that I synthesized. The black undersuit is another slightly modification I made off of his suit, but I made its better, now being capable of stopping the most powerful bullets and surviving upwards of about... say... about 1000 degrees celsius. And... That's everything, I think. How do you like it? Does it fit?"

Gohan struggled to truly emphasize how awesome he thought he looked. "It's... It's..." Gohan breathed deeply. "Amazing! This is so great! Thank you so much, Bulma!" Beside himself in excitement, Gohan couldn't wait to use his new alternate persona. _"I can beat up bad guys AND look awesome!" _"What do you think, Trunks?" Gohan turned to the young heir to the Saiyan Throne and Capsule Corp. Trunks, in turn, looked at his mother and asked pleadingly "Can I be a superhero, too?" Bulma laughed and said "I think he likes it, Gohan! And Trunks, only when you're older. Now say goodbye to Gohan. I imagine he wants to fight crime now, but still get home before his mother kills him." Gohan looked at his new wrist watch to find that it was already 4:00 "Oh no! I've got to go! Thank you so much, Bulma! I owe you one! Bye, Trunks!" Capsulating his bag, he flew out the back entrance and skyrocketed to the mid-troposphere. Looking down with new vigor, he saw a tiny Satan City barely visible in the distance and began flying rapidly towards it. _"If I'm going to be a crime-fighter, I may as well start now."_

* * *

In a matter of minutes, Gohan entered the city limits and began patrolling for any wrong-doers. _"If I'm right about this city, there is bound to be a misdeed happening somewhere in this huge place."_ Searching with his hand for the rumored controls to his helmet, he found a button just on the interior. Gohan's hearing was flooded with static before it began adjusting to the Satan City Police Department radio frequency. Slowly yet steadily the channel became more audible and the voices became less fuzzy. "-robbery in progress at Red's Donuts at 2059 Curifel Street." Gohan grinned. "_Time to give the city something to talk about other than the Gold Fighter!"_ Divebombing down, Gohan pulled up about ten feet off the ground and began weaving past street lights and trees. Below him he heard shrieks and gasps as the occupants of Satan City saw a caped individual fly directly overhead. Following the arrows pointed out by his helmet, Gohan was soon at the crime scene. It did not look good. The police and robbers were exchanging fire, but there were ten robbers in total, all equipped with semi-automatic rifles, while there were only seven officers carrying handguns. Gohan dropped to the ground, doing a flip in the air and landing gracefully on one foot. Both sides paused their firefight and stared in shock at the thin person who had seemingly just flipped out of midair. After a few seconds, a cop finally called out "What're you doing, kid?! Get out now! This place is dangerous!" Gohan turned away from the police and to the criminals before him. Three were trembling in fear, while the rest were chuckling. "You heard the the pig, shrimp!" One criminal called out. Another chimed in "Yeah! Now get your caped ass out of here before you leave in a body bag!" Gohan responded with great bravado. "Excuse me, gentlemen! Please drop your firearms and surrender to the police, or I will have to assist you... Forcefully." At that, all of the crooks laughed. The one who spoke first, seemingly the leader, said "Like hell we will! Boys, shoot this joker." All the criminals fired a volley of bullets at Gohan, who didn't flinch. The police all took cover behind their vehicles, bracing themselves for the unknown individual's blood and the bullets that would tear through his body and hurtle towards them. However, as soon as the rain of metal reached him, Gohan swiftly caught each projectile.

After a few seconds, the criminals stopped shooting, figuring that the caped idiot before them was going to crumble to his knees. But to their great surprise, he continued standing. He held out his downwards-facing fist and opened his hand. A pile of squished bullets fell to the ground from his gloved palm. Two of the criminals passed out then and there, while another threw his gun down and walked to the police with his hands behind his head. The police who peaked out from behind their cruisers gasped or let out a cry of relief. The crime boss croaked out "What the hell are you?" Smiling, Gohan said "Ten seconds are up, gentlemen!" Leaving those words hanging in the air, he disappeared. The criminals jumped, and the boss had just begun relaxing when there was a strangled scream next to him. His right hand man collapsed, sporting an impressively large lump on his head. Another uttered shriek sounded off, and he and his men spun to see one of the demolition men in their group hit the ground hard. All around the leader, his gang fell one by one to an unseen force, each falling as though they hadn't put up a fight. At last, it was just the leader and one of the better poker players in the group (which was not a very applicable skill at the moment).

As a barely audible whoosh was heard right in front of him, the boss turned to see what had become of his comrade. The poker-player crumbled to the ground as Gohan vanished again, then materialized in front of the boss. Grabbing him by the front of his shirt, Gohan lifted the criminal off the ground and spoke. "Tell me, Richard Dieb, why? Will robbing a donut shop be worth decades of time in prison?" The thief didn't even bother to ask how the caped freak knew his name, instead opting to shudder, soil himself, and pass out in fear. "You there! Freeze!" Gohan whirled around, still holding the now-unconscious crook with his feet dangling. Seeing the source of the outburst, he paled and dropped the senseless malefactor. Videl was marching towards him, and group of tactical police with riot shields were about four paces behind her, not being quite as willing to interact with the strange man who had caught bullets and single-handedly beat up a gang of dangerous criminals. Gohan began perspiring nervously. _"Uh oh! What am I going to do? If she hears my voice, she'll know who I am. And if I just fly away, then I'll look like I'm a criminal myself!" _Videl's march ended right in front of the sweating superhero, her eyes attempting to pierce the shield that prevented her view of Gohan's eyes. After a short session Videl glaring and Gohan squirming, she spoke menacingly. "Who are you?!" Gohan's mind blanked. _"What? I didn't think about that! What should my name be...?" _Clearing his throat, he said in his new 'superhero' voice "My name is..." Pausing a moment to collect his thoughts, Videl interjected. "IS?"

"The Great Saiyaman!" Videl felt a sweatdrop formulate on her forehead, as she wondered how to start fathoming what was going on and how to reason with how ludicrous it was. The police behind her had similar expressions of bewilderment as she did, and more than one of them was wondering how stupid the name was for someone who could perform the feats he did. "The... Great... Saiyaman?" Gohan smiled proudly, and drew himself up as he felt empowered by the sound of his new alias' name. "That's right!" "_I'm so glad I came up with such a great name on the spot!"_

* * *

Videl, in the meantime, had shaken off her marveling of the stranger's- no, the _Great Saiyaman's_ idiocy. "_He may be a clown, but he's a clown who can catch bullets, or pretend he can catch bullets."_ She thought. Clearing her throat, she poked Saiyaman's chest. "_Ouch. That kind of hurt my finger."_ "Listen buddy. I don't know what you're doing around here, but I don't like it. I think it's pathetic that you have to resort to tricks when beating up people, but it's still dangerous to you and people around you. Next time, leave the job to the police and myself. Got it?"

* * *

Gohan's brow furrowed. "_Tricks? What trick- Ohhh. That must be what she was talking about when I helped her as a Super Saiyan earlier! That's probably how Hercule explained the Cell Games to everyone!"_ "Well, Miss Videl, I'd be awfully inclined to... But... I still think that I can help around a bit, and look at the time!" He leaped into the sky, stopping for a moment and looking down from twenty feet in the air. "See you around, Miss Videl!" Pausing for but a second, Gohan spiraled up to 600 feet above the large crowd that was collecting around the crime scene. Taking a deep breath, he powered up slightly and blasted off towards home. Meanwhile, in the masses of people gaping below, Videl moodily threw the capsule to release her jetcopter. "_Two tricksters in one day! Who are they? What do they want?"_ As she took flight, Videl was buzzing with questions that were sure to keep her awake most of the night.

* * *

As Gohan touched down in the meadow near his house, he clicked the red button on his watch, causing his outfit to flicker out of sight. _"I don't want Mom to see it yet. Only if I need it to convince her."_ As he began approaching the small white dome he called home, Gohan couldn't help but heed the building amount of anticipation that swelled with each step. Upon reaching the door, Gohan inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled from his mouth. _"Alright. This is it. I need to get Mom to let me help the people of Satan City. They NEED my help! Plus... It's really fun." _With that mission clear in his mind, Gohan opened the door. As soon as the door was sufficiently opened, Goten ran towards his big brother. "Gohan! You're finally back! It's been forever!" The two of them laughed as Gohan hugged Goten and tossed him into the air three times. Still chuckling, Gohan set his little brother on his shoulders. When nicely seated, Goten leaned forwards and whispered secretively in his big brother's ear "I'm not sure if mom's angry at you, but I think she is. Does that mean that you can't train with me?" Gohan gulped. "_Uh oh."_ Taking his brother off of his shoulders, Gohan said "We'll see. It depends on how mad she is. Now go play before she gets the frying pan!" Goten's eyes widened in fear before he turned and madly dashed out the door. Now slightly trembling, Gohan made his way to the kitchen.

His mother sat at the table drinking her favorite rose tea and reading a magazine. As soon as Gohan stepped through the threshold, she looked at him and narrowed her eyes. Freezing on the spot, Gohan felt the adrenaline rush preparing him for combat, but he knew this was no battle he could win. Clearing his throat, he managed to squeak out "Hi, mom." She glared piercingly at him for awhile, before sighing and calming down. "Hey, Gohan. How was school?" Gohan was shocked. "_What... Was that?"_ "Um... It was okay?" She nodded, her eyes not leaving his. "Bulma called me. She told me about what you plan on doing..." Gohan suddenly felt the need to power up for his own safety. "And I support it." Gohan's jaw dropped. Chi-Chi observed this and sighed. "Gohan, I know that you are your father's son. Fighting is in your blood, and you thankfully grew up with the idea of helping people with your power. I know that I can't stop you from doing that, especially after Cell. And as long as your only fighting regular humans, I will let you." She paused, her eyes beginning to take on a more steely look. "However, that does not justify coming home late AND NOT CALLING!" Her voice elevated to a scream, and she hit Gohan on the head with a frying pan (where she got it and how she moved so quickly, nobody knows).

* * *

"_Today just isn't a good day."_ Videl thought to herself as she collapsed on her bed. She now had TWO strange tricksters who were stealing her job. "_I probably wouldn't care as much if they had let me known that I didn't need to help BEFORE I left..."_ She thought tiredly. Rubbing her temples, the teenager stared at her ceiling. "_It's times like this that make me wish I didn't do what I do. It would be nice if I could hang out with Erasa after school without some idiot threatening people's lives."_ As she slipped around her thoughts, Videl found herself reflecting on what they were discussing at Erasa's house just forty-five minutes prior.

* * *

"**So Videl, you never did tell me how that call earlier went." Videl looked warily at her best friend. She saw that her friend was suppressing a grin. "You already know. What do you want me to tell you?" Erasa giggled. "Well, I want to know what the Gold Fighter looked like! Was he as handsome as some of the people said he was this morning?" Videl shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I don't know, Erasa. I wasn't exactly paying attention to his body. I was kind of busy fighting criminals." "That's not what the police say! My friend told me that you specifically said that after all of the bad guys were defeated, you had a good look at him!" Videl looked at her oddly, before asking "Where do you get your information?" Erasa laughed. "Ask no questions and I'll tell no lies!" Videl sighed. She knew that her friend will grill her to no end to get information. "Alright. He was really... Wierd. He had a very powerful stance. His hair was gold, and he glowed. But I'd bet those things are just from light tricks or something. His eyes... were are a weird blue-green. A turquoise, I think." "Was he cute?" "I AM NOT GOING TO HOOK UP WITH THE GOLD FIGHTER, ERASA." "Fine! Geez! It was just a suggestion." There was a momentary pause. "What about Goh-" "NO!" "Aww! But he's so cute! I would probably go after him if it weren't for Sharpie!" Videl pounced on the change of topic. "Why don't you just hint at it with Sharpner. He isn't clueless, you know." "Yeah, but I'd be so embarrassed!" Videl scoffed. The most outgoing person she knew was too nervous to flirt with her second best friend. Erasa shook her head. "Whatever. Now isn't the time to talk about my crush. Let's talk about you!" "Ugh. Erasa, I swear to-" "Videl, you need a boyfriend or girlfriend or something! Why can't you at least try?" "Just because, Erasa! It's not that I don't like guys! It's just that all these boys try to 'proclaim their love' to me, but they don't actually like me! They just want the money or the popularity or to be able to say 'Oh, I dated the daughter of Mr. Satan!'" "Yeah, but Gohan didn't even know who your father was this morning! And when I told him, he acted as if it were no big deal! I think he doesn't even care!" "You don't know that, Erasa. Just wait. I'll bet you that by the end of this week, he'll show his true colors. He's probably just masking his intentions by acting so innocent and clueless." "Okay. If that does happen, I'll accept full responsibility and give you a bottle of shampoo from my mom's salon. However, I'll only do this if you are actually nice to him and treat him like a person. We probably are the only people at the whole school who haven't totally alienated him yet, and I like him." Videl rolled her eyes once again. "Fine. But when I win, be sure to pick out Mangue Parfumée." The conversation dropped as Erasa began surfing through the television channels, but Videl knew that the war was far from over.**

* * *

After doing the simple homework he had amassed over the course day, Gohan was able to train with Goten. The 7 year-old was always able keep Gohan on his toes, often possessing surprising amounts of energy that could make a task quite difficult to manage, even for a being as powerful as Gohan. In this case, it was the rocks that Goten was throwing at Gohan. They each were in designated zones, and Goten was to throw rocks as hard as he could at Gohan, who in turn tasked himself with dodging them. This game helped improve Goten's motion-tracking and aim, while Gohan was able to develop his spatial awareness and reaction time. The thing that Gohan didn't count on was Goten's capability to fling rocks at speeds that were double that of the bullets that Gohan was capable of catching. While Gohan had been in more perilous situations with his response time being stretched even further than that training session, he had not expected the first rock to be traveling so fast. The drill lasted a total of twenty minutes, with short breaks every few minutes to collect rocks for Goten to throw. Afterwards, they went and swam at one of the many beautiful lakes up on Mount Paozu. Goten's favorite part of swimming in the lake was riding his brother's shoulders, which led to more than one instance of Gohan inhaling water. At the end of their swim, they raced each other home (Gohan letting his brother win) to eat. After a massive meal of Chi-Chi's amazing cooking, the two boys cleaned up and turned in. Soon, the two Son children were asleep, and the house was quiet. Walking down the hallway, Chi-Chi looked lovingly through the doorway at her two primary sources of pride and joy "_They're growing so fast."_ She thought contentedly. Her smile died when she noticed that Gohan was whimpering ever so slightly. Walking from her youngest to her eldest, Chi-Chi sat on the bed, kissed his forehead, and wiped the tears trickling from his closed eyes. Leaving the room, Chi-Chi looked back at Gohan and Goten. "_I worry so much for Gohan. Goku's death was tragic for everyone, but Gohan's life seems to be pure torment from it."_ Entering her own room, Chi-Chi prepared herself for sleep. As her head hit the pillow, her mind was still mulling over Gohan's dilemma.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Hero's Return

Gohan was standing in a barren wasteland. Sand was swept across the dry landscape by howling wind, large red plateaus protruding fiercely from the horizon. At his feet, several bodies lay dead. His friends and family all lay dead. Gohan glanced around at the various carcasses scattered about. A pregnant Chi-Chi had her eyes peacefully shut, nothing indicating that she wasn't napping besides a small stain of crimson over her heart. Krillin lay face down in the dirt, his neck bent in the wrong direction. The bodies that lay before Gohan all sported the signs of combat, of painful deaths. Here was Piccolo and Bulma, there was Vegeta and Dende. Gohan's breathing was rapid. He needed to get away. The smell of death began asphyxiating him. Gohan began running, trying to put distance between himself and the bodies of his loved ones.

Suddenly, Gohan stopped. The wind moaned for an instant, sending a sharp chill up Gohan's back. Turning, he saw a figure standing in the distance. Starting at a jog, the young Saiyan found himself sprinting as fast as he could to reach the distant silhouette. As he got closer, he saw that it was the one person missing from the massacre earlier. Gohan then noticed that his father was not alone. Next to him, in his grasp, the grotesquely swollen Cell ballooned, a twisted smile burning into Gohan's soul. _"No!"_ Gohan desperately thought. He pushed himself as hard as he could, but it seemed as though the ground was stretching the distance between himself and Goku. Gohan's legs were weakening, but he didn't let himself stop. His eyes strained to see his dad's sad smile, seemingly waiting for his son to reach him so that they may say their last goodbyes. After what seemed like hours, the teenager got within ten feet of his father. As he stretched his arm out to grab his father's hand, a cold and unfamiliar voice resounded through the air. "All your fault." Gohan screamed and tried to close his hand around his father's, but he was too late.

* * *

Gohan awoke with a gasp. Noticing he was shivering and sweating, he looked at his slumbering brother across the room. _"Good. I didn't yell."_ He then went to the restroom to splash his face with warm water. Upon returning, Gohan collapsed in bed. _"That was one of the worst dreams I've had."_ He noted sleepily. As he slowly descended into the hazy twilight of sleep, one thought hit him before he fell into complete unconsciousness: _"Never again."_

* * *

The next day, Gohan woke to a hyperactive little brother yelling and jumping on his back. Unfazed by the 50 pounds of energy launching and landing on him, Gohan grabbed his pillow to cover his ears, and nearly fell back asleep before Goten wrenched the pillow out of his slacked grip and yelled "GOHANGETUPIT'STIMEFORBREAKFAST!" Groaning, Gohan rolled out of bed. Goten, seeing that his brother was up, went to tell Chi-Chi so she would give him food. Gohan trudged to the bathroom and ran cold water in an attempt to wake himself up. _"Uuuugh."_ He internally groaned. _"Why do I have to go? I'm not learning anything past what I knew when I was ten, most people don't like me, I can't train, and I have to get up at a Kami-forsaken time to get to this place."_ After washing up, he stepped up out of the shower and flashed into Super Saiyan, instantaneously drying off. Gohan changed into his outfit for the day, brushed his teeth, and went downstairs. His brother day at the table, gobbling eggs and bacon. Sighing, Gohan sat in his spot. No sooner had he touched his chair when Chi-Chi set a piping hot plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, and steamed rice in front of him. Any complaint of school vanished from his mind instantaneously.

* * *

Fifty-three minutes later, Gohan was flying over Satan City as Saiyaman. Keeping his eyes peeled and monitoring his helmet's radio, he was almost disappointed that no crimes were taking place. _"I need something to get my mind off of my dream."_ He thought as he flew to and fro overhead. As if on cue, there was a sudden burst of communications alerting all officers on patrol of a high speed pursuit happening on Satan Boulevard. Gohan smiled and performed a graceful flip before diving to the ground from his high altitude.

Nearing the roofs of the two-story buildings, Gohan leveled out and blasted off in the direction of the chase. His ears twitched as he heard the distant wailing of sirens. Gohan then powered up and blasted off nearly 50 percent faster than his initial speed. In no time, he found the chase and casually flew above it, evaluating the situation. After a moment of determination and the pressure of having news helicopters starting to look at him, Gohan resolved that he should simply fly down and pick up the car, therefore halting the whole scenario without any accidents. However, this was easier said than done, even with all the skills that Gohan possessed. _"I can't lift the car from above without it falling apart... And I can't exactly get under it. So maybe I shouldn't lift it. Maybe I can stand in front of them and make them stop the car. But then again, they may not stop..."_ After two seconds of flying over the chase, he had a different idea. _"Maybe I can just break the engine!"_ With that motive in mind, Gohan plummeted to float gently in front of the car. The two occupants cried out in shock and anger.

"What the hell're you doing?"

"Get out of here!"

"What the bloody hell are you?"

Gohan proceeded to shout back in his bold voice "I'm sorry gentlemen, but speeding is against the law!" They all gaped at him as he tore off the hood of their car and began examining the engine parts. The driver only barely managed to continue driving, but he was so distracted he didn't notice that the police cars were starting to gain on him. Meanwhile, the back passenger had rolled back the top window and pulled out his machine gun yelling "Flying is against the law, too!" (Probably not the best war cry, but a war cry nonetheless.) With that scream, he opened fire on the flying freak.

Gohan was busy noting how primitive the car's engine was relative to the one's he worked with in Bulma's lab when he felt a strange tapping on his chest. Looking up, he saw that one of the men in the car was shooting at him. Looking back at the engine, he realized that he shouldn't bother to properly disassemble the car and just take as primitive of an approach as the engine itself. Forming a ki disk the diameter of his index finger, Gohan slashed through a large portion of the machinery, then he flew up to confront the gunman.

"I'm sorry sir, but unjustifiably shooting someone is illegal!" With that, Gohan promptly bent the nose of the gun into a misshapen mess. The now-gunless gunman gasped, his confidence breaking with his favorite firearm. Gohan then rapped on his head once, causing his eyes to roll back and fall back into the car. He then proceeded to continue floating on the passenger side of the car, allowing it to come to a full stop before opening up the door. The man who fell out of the shotgun seat was a wreck. The experience he just witnessed had just made him lose faith in guns, crime, and everything in between and began praying that the masked fighter didn't hurt him. This was apparent when he fell on his knees trembling and pleading for mercy. The police, who had finally caught up to the car, slowly approached the vehicle. The driver attempted to make a dash for freedom, but was tackled by five police officers before you could say "King Cold's New Refrigerator." The back-seat occupant was taken into the care of paramedics, while the crying passenger went quietly and willfully, still fearful of incurring Gohan's wrath.

* * *

The police chief walked awkwardly towards Gohan, flanked by two police officers. His movements were jerky and his palms were sweaty, contrasting greatly with the confident man the public knew as the head of the Satan City Police Force. A large sweat drop formed on his forehead as he approached the unknown crime-fighter, his anxiety towards the strange individual growing with every step. Finally coming face-to-face to our caped hero, he cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, Mister -uh- Saigaman?" Gohan was rather disappointed and slightly miffed. "_What's so hard with the name? I thought I spoke clearly to Videl and those officers!"_ Taking care to articulate, he said "Saiyaman at your service!" The police chief got even more flustered. The last thing he wanted to do was get "Saiyaman" angry, especially after seeing what he was capable of.

"Well sir, we appreciate the help that you've provided, and we can probably reward you with Mister Satan's autograph, but I would really appreciate it if you would stay out of crime-fighting. Y'see, we already have Videl, and she's quite enough..." Gohan frowned. "_The people in this city just don't like me. I thought that they would want to have my help!"_

"I'm sorry sir, but until this city is entirely safe from crime, you will be seeing me around!"

"You there!"

Gohan paled. "Y-yes, Ms. Videl?"

The daughter of Hercule stalked towards him. "Who do you think you are? And more importantly, who exactly are you?"

Gohan smiled awkwardly, stuttering out. "Well, I-I'm the Great Saiya-"

"Not that! Your _real_ name!" Coming to a halt uncomfortably close to Gohan's alter ego, she attempted to look under the annoying mask that prevented her from viewing his upper part of his face. Gohan blushed and turned away, so that his secret identity remained secret. "I'm Saiyaman! Besides, why would I tell you my real identity? So you could reveal it to the press and force my family and friends in the spotlight?"

Videl gritted her teeth. "No! I would never do that!" She half-yelled, thinking about how she would never do anything to force anyone to do that, given the life that she led. "I just can not trust someone who doesn't show their face! Or someone who lies about himself!"

Gohan began fidgeting with his hands. "_I should probably get going now. I might be late for class!"_ He cleared his throat, ending the unbelievably awkward silence that had fallen between Gohan, Videl, and the police. "Well. I apologize if my mask bothers you, but I better be off! It was nice helping out! See you around!"

He leaped in the air and was surprised to have a pull on his cape. "Oh no you don't! No flying off this time, Mr. Saiya-idiot! You aren't leaving until I let you!"

Gohan's face, even with the mask, showed deep hurt. "Hey! I like my name! And I have to go!" Videl didn't let go of the hovering superhero's cape. "Not without my say-so! I want to ask you a few- AH!"

* * *

Gohan had dropped to the ground, tore her hand off his cape, and blasted off in a literal flash, leaving Videl and the police officers that had crowded around the scene with a burning blindness. After managing to regain their eyesight through vigourous blinking and eye-rubbing, the police officers all looked to Videl. Her face while mostly unreadable, showed one clear emotion: Rage. Turning to the police chief, who was cowering in fear, she spoke clearly and coldly. "I want that Saiyaman idiot detained and interrogated. Plus, I want to do the interrogation. I think that this guy is up to something."

"Y-yes, Videl. But... Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?" She glared at him for a second, which was more than enough to make his heart rate skyrocket. She then turned away, pulling a capsule out of her pocket as she spoke "I need to know what his deal is. His light tricks are dangerous, and they're a sign of trouble."

* * *

Dashing through the hallways of Orange Star High, Gohan barely managed to make it to his room in time and was glad he chose NOT to fly through the hallways. A few minutes later, Videl came stomping into the room, a brooding expression darkening her features. The teacher merely nodded at her and continued the lesson. As Videl slumped into her seat, Erasa began urgently whispering to her. "So why do you hate Saiyaman? What did he do wrong? I think he's cute!"

Videl pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes and explaining the validity behind her distrust. "I still want to know who your sources are, but anyways..." Gohan was blushing from Erasa's comment, his advanced hearing allowing him to pick up every word. However, his blush slowly slid away as he picked up Videl's response, especially the descriptive terms she was using. "_Why do I have to be the bad guy? I'm trying to help her! Although... Her father probably told her all her life that light tricks weren't good. But still, that doesn't justify her complete hatred towards me!"_

At the end of Videl's quiet yet semi-hysterical rant, she breathed deeply. After a few seconds of silent meditation, the teacher's voice in the background, she spoke again to Erasa, saying something that gave Gohan hope. "I don't know if he's a bad guy. You might be right, and he might actually be trying to help us. But he hides his face and uses light tricks, which makes him untrustworthy." With that, she put her head in her hands and continued contemplating the enigmatic character known as Saiyaman.

* * *

For the next two periods, nothing eventful happened. Gohan mostly managed to avoid Videl's piercing glares (mostly), and the classes were just as useless as they had been the prior day. In fact, nothing actually exciting happened until lunchtime.

Gohan leaped out of his chair as soon as the bell rang. Running off, he went to find a nice tree where he could enjoy his lunch in peace. Speed-walking past the crowd of running students, he was very nearly tempted to actually run to his spot once he reached his field. However, just as soon as he reached his tree, he heard a cry "Hey!" Whirling around, he saw a winded Videl stumbling up to him.

Taking a few deep breaths, she glowered at him and proclaimed "You were going to eat lunch with us today, remember? Or did you want to back out of your promise?"

Gohan subconsciously attempted to make himself smaller. "N-no! It's not that I don't _want _to be with you three... It's just that I have... Unnatural eating habits." They stared at one another for a moment, Videl's stare being a tad bit more dangerous before she snorted.

"Right. Okay, well, I don't care. Now are you going to sit with us or what?" Sharpner and Erasa appeared in the distance, jogging towards the two.

"Of course I want to hang out with you guys! It's just I don't want people to see me eat!"

The two blondes appeared next to Videl. "What's going on?" Sharpner asked.

"Gohan here doesn't want to hang out with us because he's afraid we'll be disgusted with his eating habits."

Sharpner laughed. "Really? That's hilarious! Gohan, we don't care how you eat, as long as you aren't shoving food up your-"

"Anyways," Videl interjected "How about we eat here? Would that make you feel better?" Gohan nodded vigorously.

The quartet of teenagers pulled out their lunches, with the exception of Gohan, who -despite being hungry enough to eat five non-metaphorical cows- was concerned with what the others would think of him. "_These people are the closest thing to friends I have here. I don't want to weird them out..."_

"Come on, nerd boy! You made me interested, so show us!" Sharpner said through a bite of his sandwich. Sighing, Gohan pulled a capsule out of his bag, gave a look of doubt to the people around him, pressed the button, and threw it on the ground.

In a puff of smoke, a grandiose feast was laid out. The three others' eyes widened significantly to the point of almost bulging. Gohan watched their reactions intently, before slowly and inquisitively asking "Well?"

Erasa was the first to respond, albeit not actually answering the question. "Why do you have so much food?!" Gohan had to stop himself from revealing that the meal spread in front of them was smaller than his usual, but instead chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well... I inherited a really big appetite from my father." "_It's true, so technically I'm not lying. I'm just... Not elaborating."_

Sharpner burst out laughing, barely managing to gasp out "When you said you had 'weird eating habits', I wasn't thinking anything like this!"

Gohan smiled awkwardly, before turning to Videl, who had been silent. After a few seconds of gazing at his banquet, Videl asked "Can I have some of the egg rolls?" Sharpner and Erasa burst into laughter. Gohan eyed his pile of precious egg rolls, internally debating whether or not to give her one. He looked at her pleadingly. "Do I have to?"

She crossed her arms and stated "Yes. Unless you don't like my company." Gohan reached and grabbed the plate of egg rolls, then handed it to Videl, all the while grumbling about fairness and blackmail. Erasa and Sharpner howled hysterically. "Oh, that's hilarious!" gasped Sharpner, wiping a few tears from his eyes. Erasa was more interested in one particular portion of the exchange. "Videl, when did you learn to pout?" Videl glared at her best friend, making Sharpner laugh even harder. After the three of them calmed down, they realized that Gohan was too hungry to wait for them.

* * *

Gohan was consuming foods faster than the high-schoolers could believe. His face was being stuffed at an unimaginable rate, eating more than the three of them combined in the prior three days had eaten. Videl stared at Gohan for some time, mentally adding yet another item to her growing list of oddities she found about Gohan. After a while of thinking, she glanced at her friends to find that both Erasa and Sharpner were looking funnily at her, the latter wiggling his eyebrows. Knowing almost instantaneously what the two were implying, Videl put on her fiercest glare, but the redness in her cheeks compromised her look. Ducking her head down, she looked for a distraction to her embarrassment and found a spring roll.

As she brought it to her mouth, Videl could smell pure heaven. Without hesitation she took a bite, eyes widening from the utopia that flourished in her mouth. "Mmmm!" She chowed the rest of it down quickly. "My God, Gohan! That was delicious! Where'd you get such good food!"

Gohan paused long enough to finish chewing, swallow, and say "My mom made it." before digging back in. Videl handed one delicacy to each of the two blondes. After curiously taking a bite, their expressions mirrored Videl's.

Erasa excitedly chirped "This is delicious! Gohan, you've got to get me the recipe!" Videl nodded in agreement. "This food is better than anything our chefs have ever made! Where did your mom learn to cook like that?" Polishing off a large deli sandwich, Gohan pondered the question for a moment before saying. "I don't know, actually. I know my Grandpa is an even better cook than her, but I don't know how she learned everything that she has." (A/N: It was reportedly stated by Akira Toriyama that the Ox King and Yamcha were the best cooks in Dragon Ball.)

"Better cooking?!" Sharpner eagerly asked. "There's better cooking than this!?" Gohan looked at them incredulously. "Of course there's better food! This isn't close to the best my mom makes!" Videl found her mouth watering wondering what could possibly be so delectable. She satiated the sudden hunger that gripped her with another egg roll, trying her hardest to pace her consumption. Soon the cylindrical goodies were all devoured by the three teenagers, shortly followed by Gohan's final bite of noodles.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Gohan found himself in the awful place known as Advanced Placement Calculus. Of course, he wasn't paying attention, but it was still quite dull for him.

_"Today is Tuesday." _He lamented to himself. _"Mom would usually let me play with Goten and Trunks while her and Bulma would go out shopping. We'd play in the forest for awhile, then swim, then Mom and Bulma would be back."_

Meanwhile, Videl was diligently taking notes, trying her hardest to keep up with the teacher's onslaught of information that seemed to always appear on the tests if one didn't write it down. This particular lecture was an introduction to the unit they were entering and what they were expected to know beforehand. Writing down one concept after another, she looked over to Gohan and wasn't surprised to see that he wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to the lecture and looked to be in a whole different world entirely. _"Lucky jerk! Why does he get to stare off into emptiness? It's not fair. I bet he will get an A in this class without having to try."_ To confirm her suspicions, after their teacher had finished, Videl awoke Gohan from his stupor for a brief quiz.

Glancing at her notes as she shook him out of his oblivion, Videl asked "Gohan, what's the definition of asymptotic?" Rubbing his eyes and stretching, he lazily replied "It's when something will get infinitely closer to a limit, but never actually reach it." Looking at her notes, Videl found that he was (naturally) correct. She groaned in frustration. "How is it so easy for you?! In all of our classes, you just sit there and try not to fall asleep. You just know everything! How?"

He half-smiled, scratching the back of his head as he considered her question. "Well, it was never actually easy. It's just that my mom had me study a lot when I was a kid. I grew up having lessons crammed into every spare minute, which I guess I adapted to. By learning basic concepts at a young age, I was able to learn things a lot faster later on. Make sense?"

Videl nodded slowly, taking in the puzzling character before her. _"I don't know why, but I still think he's suspicious. What could it be? Is it possible he's the Gold Fighter or Saiyaman? It seems ridiculous, but they all shared the same day of arrival. He also seems to be deeper than he appears. I know he's different, but I'm not sure how."_ She then added another resolution to her growing list of promises to herself. Within two days, Videl had determinedly told herself that she was to figure out who the Gold Fighter was, who Saiyaman was, and now, what Gohan was hiding. _"Unless he is one of them."_ She thought, before chiding herself. _"Don't be ridiculous. He's needs to have muscle, and I don't think Gohan's got any. Even though he eats a lot, he doesn't seem to know sports at all. He probably did get lucky yesterday."_ However, before she could get any deeper in her thoughts on Gohan, the bell broke her concentration like Frieza killed Planet Vegeta (Or any of the Vegetas for that matter).

* * *

Gohan was far from excited for PE. Still worried about the damage he had done the day before, Gohan was very pessimistic towards the idea of spending a whole year of trying and likely failing to mask his superhuman capabilities. _"I could just skip class."_ He hopefully thought, before shuddering in imagining what his mom would be like if she found out. After failing to think of any alternatives, the young Saiyan resigned himself to the imminent fiasco of physical education.

As the roll call was announced, Gohan stood with his companions in a corner of the gym. As they sat conversing of the amount of torturous learning Gohan was subjected to as a child, three large boys walked up to the group. Gohan observed that his associates didn't look too happy as they turned their attention to the newcomers.

"Hey Videl." The largest one said cooly, slicking his hair back as he spoke. "I was wondering if you would like to go out on a date with me." Videl scowled fiercely at him, crossing her hands across her chest. "Once again, Billy, _no thank you_!" She put emphasis on each of the syllables in the last three words, as though hoping the force in each words would somehow end up hitting him in the shins.

"C'mon babe." He said in a voice he found romantic and sexy. He raised one eyebrow as his eyes trailed up and down her body. "I'm everything you could possibly want in a guy. I'm smart, handsome, and I'm _way_ stronger than little blondie there." He nodded at Sharpner, who was about to stand up but was halted by Erasa's hand on his shoulder. "Yeah. That's right, girly. Stay down." Billy said, smirking. His two partners flanking him chuckled, before he raised his hand, silencing them. "Well, Videl? What do you think? We could see a movie, go to dinner, and much, much more." He sneered, his expression perfectly matching his demeanor, making Videl restrain her fists.

"The answer is still, and always will be 'NO'!" She snarled through clenched teeth, barely managing to hold back her rage. Billy remained oblivious to her anger, poorly choosing to saunter up to the Satan girl. "I know you have feelings for me..." He began, before he was interrupted by a confused voice.

"I don't get it. She keeps saying no, but he won't listen." Both Videl, Billy, and his goons turned to a perplexed Gohan, who realized he had said his question to Erasa too loudly. Blushing, his eyes flicked from Videl, to Billy, to Videl again, back to Billy. "Umm... Hello?"

Billy was unnerved by the way Gohan greeted him. He furiously spat out "What're you looking at, geek?!"

Gohan looked more befuddled than ever. "Y-you?"

Billy stepped towards Gohan, his eyes clearly conveying his murderous intent. Gohan, much to everyone's surprise, didn't look afraid in the slightest. Videl, who was grateful for Billy's sudden disinterest in her, was half-tempted to see what would happen if Gohan fought Billy, before shaking herself.

_"Woah there, Videl. Let's give ourselves a reality check. Gohan is NOT Saiyaman. He's weak, and Billy will pummel him."_ She spoke up. "Stop!" She glared at Billy with renewed intensity, her anger catalyzed by her defensiveness of Gohan. "Leave him alone!"

Billy sneered at her, his eyes filled with malice. "Why? He's just a pathetic, weak loser. The world needs less of him."

Videl's look of anger grew, if possible, to new heights. "I swear to God, I will beat you into the ground if you even lay a finger on him." Everybody in the general vicinity who was paying attention froze, especially Billy, who found himself fearing for his life.

Clearing his throat, he laughed awkwardly and was quickly joined by his cronies, who sounded quite uneasy and unsure of why they were laughing. After a short period, Billy ceased and chuckled out "You think I would bother wasting my time on him? He probably could be knocked out by some wind!"

Videl snarled. "I don't care! He's my friend, and my answer to you is NO. Now get out of here, before I punch your face so hard that no cosmetic surgery will be able to fix it." His figurative tail between his legs, Billy wisely chose to stalk off, stopping only to shoot a look of loathing at Gohan and Sharpner, the latter of which still restrained with Erasa's light hand on his shoulder. Sniffing dramatically, he ran a hand through his hair as he turned away, only to trip three seconds later.

* * *

Meanwhile on Kami's Lookout, Dende was looking over the edge meditatively. Mr. Popo approached him, watering can in hand. "Dende, I just felt you use your telepathic powers on a human. What happened?"

Dende smiled as he turned to his ever-dutiful helper and mentor. "Oh, it was just that that particular human was trying to bully Gohan. I made him drag his feet a little too much." Popo chided the young Namek. "Dende, you shouldn't go around using these abilities that I taught you on humans like that. As distressing as it might be, Gohan has to live his own life. Besides, I'm sure he can handle it."

Dende contemplated Popo's words, finally nodding in agreement. "Fine. I see your point. I won't interfere."

"Good. Would you care for helping me with the new flower patch?" Dende graciously accepted and went off with Popo, pausing only a moment to glance over the edge of the Lookout. "_I'm sorry, but I can't help you with this one, Gohan."_

* * *

Speaking to Gohan, Videl tried a shaky smile. "Sorry about that. Billy's a real jerk." Sharpner chuckled. "That's being a bit nice, if you ask me." Erasa chimed in "Yeah. He's been hitting on Videl for two years, but I don't think any sane woman would ever willingly go out with him." After a momentary pause, she turned to Videl and said "I honestly thought he would stop when he touched your hip and you knocked him out." Videl nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yeah. And he's still somehow managed to be more annoying. He has got to be one of the worst suitors ever, and considering that I hate all of them, that's saying something." Gohan looked at her oddly. "You have multiple suitors? Like people that want to marry you?"

Videl laughed. "'Multiple' doesn't really cover it." Erasa spoke up, answering Gohan's unasked questions. "Since she's the daughter of Mr. Satan, people want to marry her so they get all the fame and money. It's even worse for her because her father said that she wasn't allowed to date anyone who couldn't beat him, which is impossible. So instead of talking to him, they all flirt with her and try to get her to fall in love with them."

Videl's face darkened. "I'd much rather have to deal with all of them than having my dad already pick me a husband without my say." Gohan looked thoughtfully at the two of them as they spoke in turn, before saying with his brows furrowed "That's rather shallow of them. Why would they marry just for money? Doesn't the Videl's choice matter? Doesn't love matter?" Both girls had a little 'aww' moment, though Videl's was much more internal and muffled. Looking at him in a new light, a quiet little voice within her said _"That's so cute! He actually wholeheartedly believes in the idea of love!"_ Videl put her mental foot down. _"'Cute' is not a word I use. It is admirable, but not 'cute'."_ Erasa, during Videl's internal struggle, saw that Gohan was actually wondering 'why?'. "It's because they're stupid and greedy. That's why." Gohan's expression remained puzzled, but he eventually shrugged and said "Hm. Weird."

At this time, Coach Allenarsi had finished finding everyone and called for quiet. "Alright everyone! I know you guys hate it, but today's going to be a running day!" A load groan echoed throughout the crowd. Videl gritted her teeth. _"If Billy tries to hit on me the entire time, I might end up breaking his nose. And I don't think that would go well with the school."_ Fuming, Videl walked with the Erasa, Sharpner, and Gohan out to the track.

* * *

Soon, the whole crowd of students was outside. The sun shown brightly, and puffy clouds were scattered across the bright blue canvas that stretched overhead. Again, a chorus of moans and complaints emitted from the mass of students. Not only did they have to run, but also on the hottest day that week. Gohan, not noticing the sun beating down on him, had other problems.

As the class began moving out of the gym and towards the mile-long track, the youthful alien hybrid found himself being surrounded by four random girls. They all seemed to be vying for his attention, which was difficult to get when they were attempting to gain it simultaneously. After a minute of chatter, Gohan (despite being capable of understanding Goten and Trunks' hyper gibberish) only managed to understand they were talking about "how brave he was". However, he also noted that they occasionally would whisper and giggle to one another. Before he could interpret what they were saying, the instructor ordered for silence, which, when it didn't come immediately, was reinforced with a shrill whistle. Gohan's hands cupped over his ears as his enhanced hearing made the pain that his classmates felt emphasized greatly. As his ears slowly yet steadily stopped buzzing, he didn't understand the coach's instructions and just picked up "try your hardest." Then, the whistle sounded off again, and as the class took off, Gohan was left blinking tears of pain out of his eyes. Sharpner, who was curious to see Gohan's running ability, failed to find him in the thick mass of students. First he looked through the actual runners (which only consisted of Videl on that particular day), then he searched through the sea of people who were hardly jogging, where he had expected him to be. He then noticed that Gohan was still at the start.

Gohan, who had finally got over the pain, heard a familiar voice calling him. "Hey, Brains!" Looking up, he saw Sharpner approaching him. "What's up? Something wrong?"

Gohan shook his head. "I'm fine. It's just my ears are REALLY sensitive, so the whistle hurts a lot." Sharpner nodded sympathetically. "That sucks. But you should probably get running. If Coach sees that we aren't moving, we're both dead."

Agreeing with Sharpner and fearing his mother learning he got a bad grade in P.E, Gohan began jogging next to Sharpner, attempting to keep his speed equal to the blonde's. He hardly noticed when the latter began actually running, and soon Gohan found himself catching up to the large crowd of students. Sharpner, who had been intending to catch up to Erasa and show off a bit to Gohan, was startled to realize that the dark-haired teen was still right next to him. Gohan remained oblivious to this, and had almost found a way to mediate his speed when he was mobbed by the four girls again. Panicking at the sheer amount of noise and chaos they were producing, he tried to free himself of their giggles and the hands grasping at his loose shirt. Unfortunately, his efforts at lowering his speed were partially forgotten.

* * *

Videl was having her own problems. True to her prediction, Billy was attempting to keep pace with her and discuss their ever imminent love life. Videl, however, had other plans. Running at a rate faster than her usual, she quickly escaped one of the many pests in her life.

Relieved by the sound of his receding footsteps and calls, the crime-fighting Satan settled into a peaceful mental realm that consisted only of her thoughts and the sound of her feet making contact with the ground. Videl found that this sanctuary that she built in her hours of workouts was often her only place of solace, seeing as there was nowhere she had been completely out of the scrutiny of the public ever since her father ascended to a near-unreachable pedestal of fame.

Naturally -since the awed fans and greedy suitors wouldn't stop paying attention to her- she had to stop paying attention to them. Of course, it was difficult to do when the Satan-lovers consisted of everyone on the surface of Planet Earth. Obviously, she couldn't just stop existing, but hey, a girl can dream. Instead, Videl achieved her precious peace through mentally-induced intangibility. In her tranquil condition of movement, Videl reflected on the morning's events. She had given a lot of thought to _who_ Saiyaman was, and not _how_ he did what he did. While flying was easily dismissible as tricks through light and ropes, it was becoming increasingly hard for her to deny what he had done. "_How do you even bend a gun like that? That requires inhuman amounts of strength, and he hardly looks built for that amount of exertion. How does he do it?"_ She quickly denied that direction to her train of thoughts, reminding herself that they were tricks, and nothing more. "_Maybe I should talk to Dad about this. He's seen tricksters before, so maybe he knows what kind of tricks they used."_

Videl would have ideally continued her contemplation over the mystery of Saiyaman had she not picked up the noise of footsteps. Bringing herself back to earth, she blinked a few times and looked ahead. No one there. Videl continued running, hoping beyond hope that Billy had not somehow caught up to her. _"Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away."_ She then snorted. _"As if any of my father's fanboys go away."_ Videl sped up well beyond what most of the other kids could, with the exception of the top members of the track team and _maybe_ Sharpner. But if Videl had to bet, he was probably way behind, talking to Erasa. _"My God, why can't they just hook up already? They've been on-and-off crushing over each other for the last two years! And they're both too chicken to admit it. If I didn't respect them any less than I do now, I probably would have already said something. And now that they're finally interested in each other at the same time, so I should force them to get together."_ Videl mused over how she would achieve such an impossible feat, what with Sharpner's fear of being unmanly and Erasa's fear of being embarrassed.

As she was contemplating using a megaphone to shout "Just get together already!", the sound of footsteps again disrupted her thoughts. Her eyes widened as she gauged an approximation of how fast she was going. _"I haven't slowed down... So how are there people right behind me? No one in this period cares about running! How the hell can Billy be still near me!?"_ Struggling with the thought of Billy keeping up with her at one of her faster paces, she finally chose to hazard a glance behind her. She would have been less surprised by an alien than what she saw.

* * *

Fearful of the gaggle of girls from HFIL, Gohan worried for his life. After a few seconds of pushing the limits on what he knew as humanly possible, he realized that the girls probably weren't still following him. Glancing back, he looked back and realized he had gained a lead of half of the track. Wisely choosing to slow down, he looked forward and saw that there were two people ahead of him. Wondering how they get graded for the day, he then was struck by an awful thought. "_What if I get a bad grade for being too slow?"_ He had no idea how they actually got graded in PE, so he decided better safe than sorry. He continued his journey forward, though he was slower than before. Soon enough, he reached the first individual, who was heavily panting. As soon as Gohan was next to him, he realized that it was the weird guy from earlier.

"Hey... Lily? How do we get graded for running?" Billy stopped, crouching with his hands on his knees. His eyes showed a look of pure hatred as he gasped out "You... stupid... Ass! My name's Billy!"

Gohan's face turned red. "Eep! I'm so sorry! It was an accident!" As he straightened up, Billy tightened his fists. "You... I'm going to kill you!" Gohan was once again confused. He may not have had a lot of contact with the outside world, but he was pretty sure that most people don't say "I'm going to kill you" on a casual level. Except for Vegeta. But then again, Vegeta isn't "most people". Just before Gohan could begin wondering whether Vegeta even qualified as "people", a fist slowly made its way towards his face. His reactions kicking in, Gohan reached out and stopped the fist. He quickly realized that the fist was connected to an arm, and that arm was connected to a body. And the head of that body had an eye that was twitching furiously. Gohan was oblivious to the reason as why the eye was twitching, reasoning that Billy may have one of the muscular disorders that he had read about when his mother went through one of her 'Gohan'sGoingToBeADocterOrElse' phases. Pushing past discerning what condition it was, Gohan decided to focus on the matter at hand. "Billy, how do we get graded for track?"

* * *

Billy stared blankly at the new kid. _"H-how'd he catch that? That was supposed to break his nose! And now my hand hurts! How the bloody hell did he pull that off?"_ Before Billy could begin to spout of a list of his favorite profanities to Gohan, the dark-haired teen was already running off, leaving the stupefied bully scratching at his head and muttering his queue of obscenities to himself, because there was no one else to curse at.

* * *

Videl's eyes widened greatly as she observed the rapidly approaching individual. With each second, the person became clearer and clearer, eventually coming close enough to identify with ease. _"GOHAN?"_ Videl internally screeched, her mind blown by yet another plot twist presented by the new boy. Her running faltered for only a moment, then Gohan was next to her. Looking behind him, she saw only one student straggling in the distance, and realized that the rest of the students must still be around 3/4 of a mile, while herself and Gohan were well beyond 1 1/2 miles.

Turning back to Gohan, Videl struggled before stammering out "G-Gohan?" _"What the hell? I've been more literate while being strangled!"_ She thought frustratedly.

Gohan merely smiled and said "Hey Videl! I'm have a question. How do we get graded in this class?" Videl found the great stockpile of questions and statements she was planning to use to crack Gohan crumble into nothingness in the face of his naive behavior. Mentally redirecting herself, Videl thought of the question presented. "I think we get graded on how much effort you show in class..." Gohan nodded thankfully. "But, Gohan!"

He looked over at her. "Mhm?"

Videl realized that once again her mouth would not cooperate. "HOW?" Gohan examined her curiously. "How what?" Videl spluttered for a fraction of a second before half-yelling "How the hell are you up here? How did you pass everyone so fast?"

Gohan froze and glanced over his shoulder, observing that the closest person, Billy, was quite some distance off, while most of the students were halfway across the mile-long loop from the two. Gohan then tried to explain.

"Well, I was running with Sharpner, but then these girls started all talking to me and grabbing my clothing, so I ran away from them. Then, I tried to talk to that guy who was asking you on a date, but I accidentally called him by the wrong name and he got really angry and said he was going to kill me. Then I ran up to you, because I want to know how we get graded so I don't get a bad grade." This summary was all said and done in one breath of air, leaving Videl rather confused, but still following along. After a second of processing what he had said, she slowly responded, a smile slowly creeping into her face. "What did you call him?"

Gohan looked at her nervously. "Um. I don't remember." Just as she opened her mouth to chide him, they both heard Billy call out "Hey, you prick! Get away from my girl!" Videl's fist clenched and unclenched as she fought to control her anger. She motioned to Gohan and took off at a brisk rate, trying to put sizable distance between her and her repulsive nuisance. As they lightly jogged off, Videl continued her interrogation. She knew how it felt to be swarmed by people, and she knew how intimidating Billy was to others, so she didn't question his motive. However, she did note the fact that it sounded as though he had just covered a half mile in mere seconds. As they jogged silently, she mulled this over before finally coming to the conclusion that she was overestimating him.

_"He told us he ran a bit. Just because he got lucky with the ball yesterday doesn't mean that he's an athletic god or something. And there's no reason for me to believe that he is Saiyaman or that Gold Fighter. Maybe Erasa and Gohan are right. It's just a coincidence... But I still think he's hiding something about himself. I can't just start trusting him yet."_ After a few more seconds, Videl spoke. "So what DID you call Billy?"

Gohan's face flushed, and he stared keenly at the ground. "I don't remember. It was an accident." Videl chuckled. "You're a horrible liar, you know that, right? I'm not going to make fun of you or anything. I just want to have something to throw in his face." Gohan's eyes met hers in a rapt manner. "How do you put up with him? I mean, Erasa said there were more like him. What do you do about ALL of them?"

Videl sighed, giving herself some time before responding tiredly. "I don't know. After a while, being a celebrity becomes a part of your life. The fans, the press, the attention, everything. I'll admit, I still haven't gotten used to all the people who hit on me. I've got royalty, boxers, geniuses, perverted old men, tycoons, body-builders, everybody. And I hate it. I HATE being popular."

Gohan nodded sympathetically. "Yeah... I can see how there'd be so much pressure for you to be exactly what people want you to be. And I can't imagine you wanting to conform to what they want."

Videl glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" Gohan blushed and began stuttering, wanting to speed off at his normal pace and leave Videl behind. Somehow, he survived in his blubbering state long enough for Videl to crack a smile. "I'm just messing with you. You are right, though. My dad's become such a star that people expect the same from me. But how much more could they want from me? I work with the police and catch bad guys! Doesn't that give me the right to not wear what they want me to?" She sighed and stares wistfully into the horizon as they continued their light workout.

After a few seconds of the sound of the two teens' feet hitting the ground, the students' chatter off in the distance, and the even more distant ambience of the city, Videl shot Gohan a cautious sidelong glance. "I'm sorry I've been venting to you over this. I just get a little... Frustrated at times."

Gohan shook his head. "It's no problem! I think it's very nice that you are in control of your image." Another pause occurred before Videl nudged Gohan with her elbow. "So, what did you call him?" Gohan cast his eyes towards the ground and muttered inaudibly. "What was that, Gohan?"

He muttered again, barely being heard by Videl. "I called him 'Lily.'" There was a pause once more before Videl burst into laughter. She stopped running and doubled over in a fit of giggles. Gohan glared half-heartedly at her. "You said you wouldn't laugh!" Videl looked up once to see his expression, before laughing even harder then before. Taking a few deep breaths, she finally calmed down enough to say "I'm not laughing at YOU. I'm just laughing at... -Haha!- what did his face look like?! Gohan thought back to Billy's expression when he called him "Lily", and how red he had turned. He contemplated this for awhile, before saying with a degree of finality "Like a beet." Videl laughed harder than before at that, loving the idea of Billy's face looking like a tomato about to pop with self-righteousness.

A few seconds passed before she was able to continue the run. As they picked up a little speed, Videl thought about the individual next to him. _"He seems nice enough. He doesn't appear to care for who I am. He acts completely innocent. But he's hiding something. He's suspicious. And as nice as it may be to have a friend like him, I can't trust him." _Yet another pause occurred as they moved at an equal rate, an untroubled quiet holding the warm air. Videl was suddenly struck by a rather pesky thought and voiced it. "How did you mix Billy for Lily? They're nothing alike!"

Gohan looked more embarrassed than before and tried to defend himself. "Well, they both have the '-ily' sound in them, and I only heard his name once or twice, and I wasn't really paying attention." Videl's face was skeptical, and she verbally expressed her disbelief. "Right... But don't you know that Lily is a girl's name?"

Realization dawned on Gohan's face. "Oh! It is?" Videl rolled her eyes. "Duh! How could you not know that?" Gohan went back into his defensive mode. "It isn't my fault! I just knew that Lily was a name of a flower and some people from books. I don't know many people outside of my family friends, so I don't know which names belong to who. In fact, before I came to Satan City, I had never seen a boy my age. I met a girl once when I was ten, but she lived somewhat far away, and she moved away shortly after we met."

Videl sharply examined Gohan's face, attempting to discern any dishonesty. To her great surprise, he didn't seem to be lying. "But... How? How could you live your whole life away from people? How could you stand the isolation?" Gohan thoughtfully looked out at the cityscape in the distance, the buzz from the crowds making his mental articulation slower. After a few seconds, he timidly responded "I don't know. It's just how I was raised. I guess it would be like asking you how you are so driven. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that just who you are?" Videl nodded. _"I can't argue against that." _They continued their jog until a shrill whistle echoed across the huge track. Gohan winced, but was fortunately far enough to not have his ears start bleeding. Following Videl's lead, he walked across the track to where the amassing students stood about, waiting to be dismissed.

* * *

After school, Gohan rushed out. Unfortunately, he wasn't traveling fast enough. "Gohan!" He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around slowly. His three social guides approached him, Videl in the lead, with Erasa and Sharpner chatting in the back. As they neared him, Gohan could make out that Videl (surprise, surprise) was frowning. "What's the big rush?" Gohan laughed uneasily and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, you know... I've got a big commute." Erasa abruptly joined the conversation. "That reminds me. Where DO you live? I know it's out-of-town, and I live at the edge of town, so we might live near each other!" Gohan quickly ducked out of the question. "Oh, well, it's really far away, so I doubt it. By the way, do any of you know any good restaurants nearby? I'm starving!"

While the latter statement was an effort to avoid the question, it had a pretty large portion of truth to it. He was REALLY hungry, and he didn't think he could make it home in time to satiate his appetite. Erasa, who seemed satisfied with his incomplete answer, quickly responded, eyes alight. "OH! I know! There's this really good deli around the corner, with sandwiches to DIE FOR. Although..." She added, looking at Gohan consideringly "I suppose your mother makes better sandwiches."

Gohan, who was already hungry, felt weak in the knees at the thought of the sandwiches his mom made. "_I would give away all the dragonballs right now for some food."_ Nodding vigorously, he desperately asked where this sandwich shop would be. As she provided directions, she halted and laughed wholeheartedly, breathing deeply to maintain the air she was losing in her laughter.

Everyone, Videl included, looked at her oddly. "What's up, Erasa? You okay?" She probed nervously. The last thing she needed was her best friend to go insane.

"I-I'm fine!" Erasa gasped. "I just thought of the owner's face when Gohan walks in and asks for basically all his food!" Sharpner chuckled, picturing a look of extreme incredulousness. Videl smirked, her thoughts more on how Gohan would act in the process. In her mind's eye, she saw Gohan nervously asking how large a sandwich was, before asking -with a completely straight face- for two-hundred of them. Erasa had one last laugh before coming up with an idea. "How about this: We come with you, Gohan, and order ten sandwiches each, then bring them to you outside. That way they won't kick you out!" Gohan looked confused for the eleventeenth time that day. "Why would they kick me out? What would I do wrong?" Erasa just laughed and told them all to follow her. Trotting along at an agonizingly slow pace, Gohan couldn't help but reflect on how much Erasa reminded him of Mrs. Briefs.

* * *

Fifteen minutes and forty sandwiches later, Gohan was sitting up against a tree. His eyes tracked the ducks in a nearby pond, the children in the swing-sets a couple hundred feet away, and the puffy clouds in the sky. Finally, his eyes came to rest on Sharpner and Videl, who were sparring. He watched their movements, taking in more details about their fight than they themselves could. Gohan saw slight disadvantages and subconscious preferences in their forms. Turning, he saw Erasa, who was seated a few feet away, was admiring the fight herself. However, Gohan noted that her eyes seemed to correlate with Sharpner's movements. Turning back to the fight, he thought what he had just observed through, before returning to reality and paying attention to the actual fight. He examined both of their fighting styles, noting their strengths and weaknesses. Videl seemed a bit more on the offensive than Gohan believed effective, and Sharpner's attacks were carrying just a little too much power, making him slightly slower than he could be. The spar continued another two minutes before Videl stopped playing around and started moving a bit quicker. No sooner had she made that determination than her palm planted itself firmly into Sharpner's chest, sending him flying back and ending the spar. Relaxing her muscles, she examined her surroundings. She saw Erasa walking over to Sharpner, who was sitting up, then saw Gohan still resting comfortably against a tree. She walked over to him, and plopped down next to him. Looking at what he had been viewing just a few minutes prior, the two sat in complete stillness.

A moment later, Sharpner and Erasa walked over and joined them, forming a square. After twenty seconds of silence, Gohan decided to breach the quiet. "That was a good fight you guys had back there. I'm impressed." Sharpner smirked, his ego growing from the other male's admiration. "I'll bet that's the first time you've seen a martial arts fight, isn't it?" To his great disappointment, Gohan shook his head. "No. I've seen quite a few fights throughout my life. My family is very avid about martial arts." Videl pounced, hoping to get some information on Gohan. "Really? Do you have any family members that fight?" Gohan realized his mistake of opening up a bit too much.

* * *

"_If I keep this up, they'll know that I know martial arts! Then Videl will probably link me to Saiyaman!"_

"Oh, yeah. But just small-time training with family friends."

"_There. I didn't totally lie there, although this only works if you count Vegeta as a friend. I think we might be. He's certainly changed. Considering that when he first landed on Earth, he was trying to kill us... And in the Gravity Room... He tries to kill me... So..."_ As Gohan's internal conversation was going on, Videl asked another question, but he was far too engaged in figuring out if the Prince of All Saiyans was a friend. "_Well, he's been trying to beat me every time we step into the Gravity Room for the last seven years... Which is basically all the time I've seen him... And that's more than I can count. But at the same time, Bulma keeps telling us how sweet he can be with Trunks... Eh. I'm just going to say he's an associate."_

* * *

"GOHAN!"

"AH!" Gohan returned to actuality forcefully. Disoriented he looked around to see Erasa and Sharpner laughing. Blushing, he apologized sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I just got caught up in my thoughts." Videl was glaring at him (big surprise, huh?), but it was obvious she herself was trying not to smile. She lost control of her face and cracked a half-smile. "It's alright. I asked you: What do your parents do?" Gohan began thinking about how to lie his way out of that one when he had a horrifying thought. A look of pure terror overtook his face, and he fearfully looked at his watch. "OH NO! I didn't tell my mom that I was staying after school!" The others looked confused as to why that would scare Gohan so much. Sharpner started. "Relax, Gohan. I can give you a ride." Gohan shook his head leaped to his feet, not noticing the looks the others were giving him after performing such a feat so graciously. Tempted to fly away then and there, he realized that his mom would be even more angry if he compromised their secluded life. Running off, he shouted over his shoulder a thanks, and had nearly turned a corner when he ran back speedily (within reason, of course). Opening his wallet that he received from his grandfather on his seventeenth birthday, he pulled out a couple bills and handed them over. Not wasting any time, he turned and dashed away, not regarding the others' shouts of not needing to repay them.

As Gohan disappeared, Sharpner scratched his head. "I wonder what his deal was." Erasa gasped, making the others look inquisitively at her. Her eyes were so wide they almost popped. "L-Look at all the money he gave us!" Videl looked at the bills carelessly crumpled in her hand. Straightening out one of them, her eyes widened. "A 20,000 Zeni bill?" Sharpner's jaw dropped. "I've got five of them!" Erasa nodded slowly, still shocked. "So do I..." They stood silent for a moment before Sharpner said "So... Does that mean Gohan's rich?" Videl nodded. "I think so. I mean, this is a lot, even for me, to be carrying around. He didn't even seem to notice or care." Erasa responded. "I think it was an accident on his part. We should give it back tomorrow." Sharpner began whining. "Aww. Can't we keep some of it? Gohan probably has a lot more..." Videl silenced him with a look. "We can't just take his money like that. We don't know what he needed it for and why he had it. For all we know, that's his family's money." As the trio began making their way to their vehicles, Videl couldn't help but wonder HOW Gohan had gotten so much money. "_Oh well. Yet another mystery that I need to unravel." _


	9. Chapter 9

Computer, what do the publishing stats say about the story's viewer count?

Thank you so much for reading my fanfiction! I truly appreciate the feedback I have been getting, and I am attempting to develop my writing to suit the helpful critique I have received. Please continue reading and reviewing!

Chapter 9: Almost Normal

Gohan was not having a good day. Not only had he had a nightmare for the fifth night in a row, but he also ended up sleeping in as a result of having a hard time falling back asleep from said nightmare. From there, he had to rush to get out the door and even had to power up a rather large amount in order to reach a speed that would allow him to reach school in time. Just as the bell rang, he burst into the classroom. Around fifty pairs of eyes fell onto him, and he felt his cheeks glowing red. Feeling trapped, he mustered up the courage to say a really small "Hi." before scampering to his spot. Mr. Oshieru cleared his throat, then launched into lecture, which Gohan tuned out. What was the good of hearing something that had been crammed into his head for over ten years? Looking down the aisle, he saw Erasa and Sharpner, but no Videl. No sooner had he noticed that then the door near the front of the class opened, and a very tired Videl walked through.

* * *

Nodding to the teacher, she laboriously climbed the steps to their aisle, grateful to be able to collapse into her chair. Looking around, she saw her usual gang of comrades. In that instant, she mentally slapped herself. "_What are you thinking?! Gohan isn't our friend, remember? We still have to get to really know him before we even can consider him an acquaintance!"_

Somewhere else in her head, another voice disagreed. "_Yet you are more comfortable around him than with people you've known for years."_

"_Shut up!"_ Videl concentrated on purging her brain of the pesky voices, thinking all the while about possibly seeing a psychiatrist.

* * *

At the start of break, Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner met up with Gohan. Videl put her hand in her pocket and withdrew 15 bills and promptly handed them to the other raven-haired teen. Gohan's confusion was palpable. "What are these for?" Videl was the first to respond. "This is the money you gave us yesterday."

"Okay. Why don't you want it?"

"Look at the bills."

Gohan did so, and Videl was surprised to see no unusual response. Gohan looked up once again, still. "What's the matter?"

"They're... they're twenty-thousand Zeni each!"

"Is that not enough?"

Videl spluttered. "Not enough? That's way too much!"

Gohan cocked his eyebrow. "You bought me food, and this is me paying you back." He handed it back. "Keep it. I don't need it." He went to his favorite tree and threw a capsule, which unveiled a glorious snack. As he sat down cross-legged, the Saiyan saw the other three sit next to him. Videl chose that moment to begin questioning. Unfortunately, she was too late, and Gohan was already eating. "Gohan, where'd you get all that money?" She got a muffled reply. "Wmph mungy?" She punched his arm lightly. "You know, the money that you gave us! The money that you won't let us give back!" Sharpner's voice rang out. "Hey, I'm not complaining!"

Videl turned and punched him, although not quite as gently as she had with Gohan. "Well, Gohan?"

"Oh, well... You see... -um- My godmother gives me money for... Helping around with her company."

"She must be rich." Erasa commented

Gohan nodded. "_That's an understatement." _"It is. Anyways, she gives me money for helping out, even though I really don't want it. My mom doesn't really complain, though." Videl was quick to pry for more details. "What kind of stuff do you do that warrants that much money?" Gohan thought for a moment, before simply stating "Oh you know, simple stuff.." With that response, he tucked back into his meal, trying to fulfill his appetite before the end of the break. He only stopped twice during the meal. Once, to grumpily allow his companions some of the amazing rolls. The second time to slap at Sharpner's hand, which was wandering a bit too close to his dumplings. As the latter retracted his hand and began massaging it, he muttered "Someone's a bit protective."

This proved to be too much for Videl and Erasa, who had seen Gohan's sudden look of anger and annoyance with chipmunk cheeks, and then Sharpner's look of pain as his hand was stung by the former's, all in over the course of two seconds. Gulping for air, Erasa was hardly able to say "Sharpie's face!" before relapsing into her fifth fit of laughter. Videl was the first to recover of the two, the other girl rolling on the ground at Sharpner's hurt expression when he saw they were laughing at him. "Hey Sharpner, I thought you were a martial artist!"

Sharpner grumbled incomprehensibly. Gohan, by this time, had finished his meal and was contently smiling. It was nice for him to have people his age that he could hang out with, and the food in his stomach wasn't dampening his mood. His peace was lost with the sound of the bell. The four sighed simultaneously, not one of them wanted to move. As they began walking towards the school, Sharpner asked a question that he was meaning to say, but had forgotten about. "Videl, I was wondering what the hell was up with that 'Saiyaman' guy?" The daughter of Hercule began fuming. "He was an arrogant, snobby, hard-headed, and evasive cheater of a fighter! He used light tricks to do my job, and he endangers the lives around him!" As Gohan was trying to look inconspicuous, Sharpner chuckled and said "Geez, I'm sorry I asked!"

* * *

The rest of the school day went slowly. Physical Education was a lot more manageable for Gohan, since that particular day was dedicated to pushups and situps. Fortunately for Gohan, he knew that all he had to do was enough to seem like he was trying, but not the ridiculous amount that he did on a normal basis. At the same time, Gohan had no idea what was considered 'normal', and he was unsure if the people were slacking like they were the preceding day on the track. As a result, he ended up doing more pushups than everyone except Sharpner and Videl. This obviously increased Videl's interest in him, but what really roused her curiosity was how he didn't break a sweat while doing it. In fact, he looked quite at ease. Unfortunately for her, the schedule that day didn't allow her to question him until it was too late.

As soon as school was out, Gohan bid his farewells and ran off. No sooner had he turned the corner then Videl began running after him.

"Vi? Where are you going?" Erasa called out to her. "I wanna see how Gohan gets home!" As the other two followed, Sharpner snorted. "Wow, Videl. This is a tad bit creepy. I thought you left that to your devoted fans!" Videl turned and hissed at him "Shuddup! If he lives as faraway as he says he does, than why does he walk?" Sharpner snorted. "What? You think he _flies_ or something?"

Looking ahead, they saw Gohan turn another corner and disappear from sight. Videl began sprinting, desperate to catch up with her prey. "_He's too nice. He's too innocent. He's too strong. He's hiding something. If I don't figure him out soon enough, I might snap." _Videl noticed that the two blondes were no longer with her. "_No matter. I'll meet up with them later."_ Turning the corner, she looked about in the people milling about on the shop-filled street. "_There!"_ The distinctly spiky black hair tipped her off, and she raced after him. Keeping herself hidden, she trailed him for a few more streets before he made an unexpected turn into a dark alleyway. Peeking down the alley, she saw Gohan had started running towards the alley intersecting his current one. Struggling for a moment with the internal debate of inconspicuousness versus reconnaissance, Videl paused for a short second before taking off after him. However, after she turned the corner, she was met with the sight of nothing but... Well, an alley. Gohan was gone. "_How the hell did he get away so fast? And how'd he know that I was following him?"_

* * *

Meanwhile, about 10,000 feet in the air, Gohan -er- Saiyaman floated peacefully. "_I wonder who was following me. Good thing I heard them. I almost took off without scanning for ki signatures."_ After hanging in the air for a few moments to breathe deeply, he decided to patrol the city to see if there were any criminal activities.

Twenty minutes later, Gohan was feeling rather bored, yet apprehensive. "_There's nothing going on! And if something doesn't happen soon, I'll have to leave quickly so that I can get home in time. Mom won't be as forgiving as she was yesterday if I was just wasting time as Saiyaman."_ His boredom and anxiety climbed for the next five minutes. Just as he was about to turn for home, he heard a cry for help. Gohan's restlessness and uneasiness disappeared as he dropped from his thirty-foot high flying zone. In this part of town, he didn't need to worry about crashing into skyscrapers, so he was safe in this area. Powering up, he rapidly combed the ground beneath him before seeing and hearing obvious signs of struggle in a dark alleyway. Gohan fell to the ground, landing lightly on the pavement, and surveyed the situation.

Two men were trying to force the clothes off of a teenaged girl. Her coat was partially ripped, and her pants had seen better days. While she was doing a good job with her purse, the men were resilient, and were progressively gaining the advantage. Gohan decided to put his foot down. Just as one of the men raised his fist to hit the girl, Gohan grabbed his arm and flung him into a wall. The other man, who was too caught up in his work, did not notice the commotion until it was too late. Gohan's slap sent him flying five feet backwards, blood freely flowing from his nose as a result of the impact between his face and the superhero's hand. As he cried and tried to stop the blood, his friend got up from his face-to-face meeting with the wall and charged Gohan, spitting profanity and raving about how he was going to kill "the bitch in the costume." His tales of murder were short-lived, as Gohan determined that the young woman had had enough distress in her day. He disappeared from from the man's fist and appeared behind him, swiftly poking a few spots on the man's back. He then went over to the guy with nosebleed and chopped at his neck, rendering him unconscious. The man crumpled swifter than Burter could say "Fastest in the Universe."

Gohan turned away from his handiwork to the woman. "Miss Berne, are you alright?" The woman nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Good. If you wouldn't mind, could you please accompany me?" Not waiting for an answer, Gohan picked up both men by the fronts of their shirts and held them at his sides as he walked out to the street. The women, still shocked, trailed behind him. Taking off from the ground, Gohan hung the men by the back of their shirts on two signs, before returning to the ground. Looking clearly at the woman he just saved, he realized that there was a small drop of blood trickling from her mouth. Brushing it away with his gloved hand, he couldn't help but be thankful that both polyester and carbon nanotubes were machine-washable. "I'm sorry Miss Berne, but I believe you may need medical attention. Could you please call for the police and an ambulance?" The woman, who just noticed that the masked savior knowing her name, nodded mutely and soon had called the authorities. After she was done, she simply stood and stared at Gohan. This went on for about thirty seconds, Gohan coughing awkwardly every so often.

"Um, sir? Are you that guy who was on the news?"

He nodded. "Yep. That's me."

"What's your name?"

"The Great Saiyaman!"

"... Saiyaman...?"

"Yep!"

"Oh... Well... Saiyaman... Can you actually fly, or is that a trick?"

"Of course I can!"

"Can... Can I see?" Gohan began floating a foot off the ground. The girl, who was identified by Gohan's helmet as Jamie Berne, gaped. "But-but how? How do you do that?" Gohan shrugged and smiled. "I just do. Now if you'll excuse me, it looks like your ride is here. Goodbye, Miss Berne!"

As Gohan flew away from the lights and sirens on the ground, he couldn't help but think about how much better he was getting at using his superhero voice.


	10. Chapter 10

I apologize for the wait! I've been caught up in lots of things, as well as watching new shows (Code Geass, DanMachi, Baka Test, etc)! Right now, I'm working on Chapter 14 (which is incredibly long). Here you go!

Chapter 10: Conditioning

Before Gohan knew it, it was the weekend. This came as a relief for several reasons. The first was the increasing amount of pressure being Saiyaman. He had successfully managed to evade Videl while fighting crime, but found that she was actively trying to catch him. The second reason was simply school. While it was nice to hang out and talk with friends, Gohan couldn't manage to adapt to the required sleeping schedule and was often bored in class. The third and most puzzling reason was the seemingly increasing crowd of females who seemed to feel very interested in becoming Gohan's friend. Ideally, this would be a good thing, as it would mean that he had more friends, but they acted very strangely, even on Gohan's standards. And finally, with the weekend came the freedom to train.

* * *

After Gohan's annihilation of Cell, Chi-Chi had declared that her son was completely through with martial arts. While he was initially in agreement with this due to his hatred for combat and himself, his Saiyan side reacted poorly to a few months of being cooped up. The need to fight was a critical portion of his life, and he was being denied it.

After Goten's birth, he asked Chi-Chi day in and day out if he could go train. She always responded that he may exercise, but not train martial arts. This did not go well for Gohan. The first thing to start altering was his sleep. He started having even worse dreams than the days directly subsequent the Cell Games. Then, his hunger faded away. However, Chi-Chi remained resilient, trying dozens of natural remedies in order to cure her son of his symptoms without having him fight. To her, combat was the last option. Not only had she lost her husband to fighting, but Gohan had seen his father and friends die, and she didn't want him to go through it anymore. Krillin, Yamcha, Roshi, and even Piccolo showed up, all trying to emphasize the importance of Gohan's training to Chi-Chi. However, they never got anywhere. It wasn't until Bulma and Vegeta came a-knocking that Chi-Chi changed her mind. Bulma explained how Saiyans such as Gohan needed combat for their physical and mental health. She then forced Vegeta to explain (in his very rough manner) that it was an evolutionary trait that developed over the course of Saiyan history, which consequentially resulted in all Saiyans needing combat, which was about as essential as food and sleep.

Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence, Chi-Chi resisted the idea, which was still unfavorable to her. Ultimately, it was Bulma sitting down and chatting with Chi-Chi after Vegeta's Saiyan Physiology 101 that made a difference. After an hour-long discussion, Gohan was finally granted permission to train again, given he continued studying. Unable to contain his excitement, Gohan had run outside yelling and fired a kamehameha wave into the sky.

* * *

Since then, Gohan had built up a very specific training schedule that allowed him to excel in fighting while still able to study to Chi-Chi's content. On Mondays he would go to Kame House and train with Krillin and Android 18. On Wednesdays he would train with Piccolo, often in ki manipulation. Thursdays and Saturdays were for training with Vegeta in the Gravity Room, which was usually very taxing, even though Vegeta was still (unbeknownst to the Prince) weaker than him. And of course, there was the everyday training with Goten after studying. However, this whole system collapsed when Chi-Chi began prepping Gohan for school. As an alternative, Gohan had to cram all of his training into two days.

On this particular Saturday, Gohan flew to Kami's Lookout at 7:00 am. There, he meditated with Piccolo, Dende, and Mr. Popo. After an hour of keeping himself still and calm, he and Piccolo flew down to a nice desert to do a bit of their training. Piccolo's instructions for the day were simple: Fight. However, the catches was that Gohan couldn't go Super Saiyan and that Piccolo was allowed to collect all of his energy before the spar. Gohan had no qualms with this, thinking that it was still going to be easy, having surpassed Piccolo long ago. However, as Piccolo began collecting his energy, Gohan couldn't help but wonder what the Namek's plan was.

* * *

Soon, Piccolo was surrounded in pulsating white light, his arms raised as though he were keeping himself from being squished by two walls. However, before Gohan could charge, Piccolo began firing baseball-sized spheres of ki out of both hands. What confused Gohan was that Piccolo wasn't firing at him, but was instead shooting towards both sides of him. Gohan stood still for a moment, trying to figure out what Piccolo was doing, but then realized his mistake. The spheres of golden ki were starting to encircle Piccolo, orbiting him like planets around a sun.

_"What's he doing?" _Gohan thought. _"It looks like he's using his Hellzone Grenade on himself!"_

Still, more energy orbs appeared from Piccolo's hands, and the mass of ki balls grew. Gohan chose this moment to attack, while Piccolo was still producing more energy. Flying towards his former sensei, Gohan fired one of his own energy orbs to cause a chain detonation with Piccolo's. However, Piccolo seemed to detect this, in turn sending a single blast to intercept Gohan's.

A fiery explosion erupted in the expanse between the two, though neither fighter flinched. The spiky-haired teenager then charged full speed, hoping to mask his movements with the smoke from the fireball. Unfortunately, Piccolo sensed his movement and sent two ki balls to hit Gohan. Gohan barely evaded the shots and continued flying up towards Piccolo. To his great surprise, he was hit in the back with the two energy spherules, which subsequently exploded.

Landing on the ground, he realized that Piccolo must have manipulated the path of his shots. Gohan powered up and charged the Namek, sending fifty ki balls to cover his flight. Piccolo, who had planned for this type of advance, sent out seventy energy spheres to counter. Gohan's shots were all cut off, and he barely managed to avoid the twenty other projectiles. Turning around, he saw that they were turning around and heading back to Gohan. He quickly dove to the sandy ground, letting the blasts follow him. He began twisting and weaving, hoping to make the bright spheres of ki hit one another, and therefore explode without damaging him. Though Gohan did hear a few blasts behind him, he could still feel them following him.

Turning, he unleashed a fierce wave of ki, blowing away the energy attacks. Gohan then pulled a sharp turn upwards, still seeking to cause the swarm of ki circling around Piccolo to self-destruct. The Saiyan fired two bright violet beams at the cloud of energy. Just as the streaming rays of energy neared their targets, two energy spheres shifted from gold to a blood red, which then harmlessly absorbed the powerful streaks. They then split into four golden balls, which began spiraling towards Gohan. The hybrid was comprehending this twist of events and began plotting around Piccolo's scheme.

"_Not good! Piccolo's attacks can absorb my own energy blasts! And it looks like he's really been practicing his ki control! The shots he's firing are so coordinated that I'm having a hard time dodging them!"_

Gohan propelled himself to the ground, preparing to defend against the ki blasts. Focusing his energy into his hands, Gohan hit the orbs away, and not a second too late. They flew a few feet away before each discharging with the force of a grenade.

As the explosions shrouded Gohan as he prepared for another strike. Focusing intensely, he began building his own swirling swarm of energy. Piccolo, realizing what Gohan was attempting, let loose a wall of ki orbs. Much to his surprise, his attack was completely annihilated. Looking on in shock, the Namek observed a swiftly growing cloud surrounding Gohan that was close to dwarfing his own. _"Gohan's using my own attack against me! If he keeps on going, he will be able to beat me!"_

Piccolo let out a roar as he forced thousands upon thousands of his ki globes to target Gohan. The Saiyan reciprocated by moving his own spheres to form a barrier protecting him. Piccolo watched as his attack explosively met Gohan's. At last, he triumphed. Gohan's defenses were broken, and Piccolo still had some energy strikes left. However, as he began searching for Gohan's ki in the fluctuating energy left from their battle, Piccolo found that the eldest son of Goku was actually above him. Turning his head, Piccolo saw nothing but orange light before he fell unconscious.

* * *

When the Super Namek came to, he was seated in a comfortable arm chair. _"Huh. It's been some time since I've been knocked out."_ Straightening himself in his slumped position in a comfy chair, the Namek took in his surroundings. He was on the Lookout. Off towards the trees, he saw that Gohan was meditating three feet off the floor with Dende and Popo. Shakily getting to his feet, Piccolo walked over to the peaceful trio. As he entered the loose ring formed by them,

Gohan pulled his feet out of their position and stood, stretching out and yawning. Working the kinks out of his neck, he smiled to his former teacher. "Hey, Piccolo. Sorry about that. I think I put too much energy behind that blast. You've been asleep for about a half an hour now." Piccolo shot a small smile back at his old pupil. "_He's really grown."_

"It's nothing, Gohan. You did a good job. I honestly didn't think you'd be able to make it without getting a scratch or two. Seems I underestimated you once again."

Gohan laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. I just saw how long it took you to make your attacks, and I knew that I couldn't keep doing what I had started off with. So I decided to try out your own technique. By the way... How'd you absorb my energy like that? Why didn't you keep on doing that?"

Piccolo shook his head. "It requires lots of concentration to have a small attack like that absorb energy from other attacks. I can only do it on one attack at a time."

Gohan nodded. "Nice! Maybe you can teach me that sometime. Anyways," He turned to Dende and Mr. Popo as he spoke "I'd better be going. I've still got to train with Krillin and Eighteen. Thanks for the food and the company!"

Dende laughed. "It's no problem, Gohan. Good luck at school!"

Gohan chuckled nervously. "_I wish it were that easy."_

Piccolo nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Send Krillin and Eighteen my regards. And Gohan..."

The Saiyan stopped himself from blasting off. "Yes, Mister Piccolo?"

"Have fun at school. I hope you can make friends there."

"Alright! Bye!"

The members of the Lookout watched Gohan fly away towards Kame House in silence, before Dende spoke up. "I hope he makes friends. He's been getting less sleep lately."

Piccolo nodded in agreement. "I could tell just by seeing his eyes. Do you think he's been having more nightmares?"

Before Dende could respond, Popo made a proclamation. "I am personally glad that we have Gohan. While it greatly pains me to think that such a kind person suffers so much, it scares me to imagine what the world would be like if someone other than Gohan went through what he has. That power and pain could drive somebody mad, but even after so many years, he still remains optimistic." The two Nameks couldn't help but agree.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Gohan touched down on the soft sand of Roshi's Island. "_It was fun training with Mister Piccolo. Now I wonder what I'm going to be doing next?" _Just then, he saw Android 18 stride out of the house, followed by Krillin carrying Marron on his shoulders. 18 walked with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face towards Gohan, while Krillin was grinning.

"Hey, Krillin, hey Eighteen, hey Marron!" The bald monk set down his daughter, walked up to him and gave him a hug, while 18 simply inclined her head slightly.

Krillin grinned. "Hey, Gohan. How long has it been? Two months now? You just keep on getting taller! You look so much like Goku now!" Gohan blushed and scratched the back of his head. Just as he was about to speak up, a small voice squeaked out "Hi, Uncle Gohan!"

The half-Saiyan hybrid felt his leg being hugged and saw Marron was beaming up at him. "Hey there, Marron! How are you?"

The little blonde-haired cheerfully announced "I'm three and a quarter now!" Gohan responded with equal enthusiasm "That's awesome! How was playing with Goten a few days ago?"

"It was super fun! When can he come over again?"

"I don't know, but I'll ask my mom."

"Yay! Thank you!"

Gohan grinned. "No problem." Krillin interrupted the conversation. "C'mon, Marron! Mommy and Daddy are going to start training with Gohan."

"Okay! Can I watch?"

"Sure, but make sure you stay back. We don't want you to get hurt."

After she found a comfortable spot, Krillin and 18 started talking to Gohan, the former laying out the game-plan for the day. "Alrighty, Gohan. After our last couple of training sessions, Eighteen and I think that you should practice with your eyes closed." Gohan frowned. "That might work, but I'm wondering how I'll fight Eighteen, seeing as she has no ki signal at all." Android 18 smirked. "That will be part of the fun. You'll have to rely on your other senses and evasive movements. But first, we have to warm-up and have a practice run."

After about fifteen minutes of stretching and practice punches, the combatants were ready for a practice round. This activity was comprised of an easy game, in which Gohan would stand on his hands while Krillin and 18 took turns half-attempting to hit him. While Krillin was a bit more lenient in his charge, while 18 was far more brutal, and rightly so. The demi-Saiyan's little brother was so constantly hyper that Gohan developed a high adeptness at swift reaction, even in fine motor skills. After about fifteen minutes of this warm-up, they decided to begin the actual training.

Android 18 explained her idea for their training. Gohan would be blind while he fought them both at full power, while he couldn't ascend to SSJ1. Gohan scratched the back of his head. "Okay, I guess. This might work..." He looked thoughtfully at the two of them, before asking "How will make sure I keep my eyes closed?" Krillin grinned and ran inside Kame house, calling over his shoulder "Blindfold!"

Gohan was left standing with Android 18. Surprisingly enough, she was the first one to speak. "How's school?"

Gohan smiled before responding "It's okay. It's really hard to get to know people after only knowing a handful of people in my life. It's also really difficult to not show my strength."

She nodded solemnly, before looking at him with a piercing look. "Anyone bullying you?"

Gohan shrugged. "No. Not really."

"Hm. Well, if people start picking on you, don't ignore them. I'm not implying that you pull a Vegeta and use them as a punching bag, but don't be afraid to stand up for yourself." Gohan nodded grimly. She continued. "Listen. I know you don't like conflict, but don't let people walk all over you. They owe you their lives, and you don't deserve their shit." Gohan reluctantly listened to the android, understanding that she was only trying to help.

* * *

Over the seven years since Cell's downfall, Bulma and Chi-Chi made sure that the whole gang kept in contact by hosting get-togethers every couple of months or so. More often than not Tien and Chiaotzu wouldn't show up, but everyone else usually showed up, including Vegeta (due to Bulma's pressure). While the group was quite odd in itself, the members were still shocked when, several months after the Cell Games, Krillin, Roshi, and Oolong brought along Android 18, who was completely disgusted by the latter two. After formal introductions were made (Basically consisting of 18 nodding at people and Vegeta being restrained by Bulma's threats), the mingling and catching-up continued. However, 18 was particularly interested in the polite young teenager walking around and seeming to make everybody smile and laugh.

She had whispered to Krillin. "So he's..."

"The one who defeated Cell."

18's files showed that the boy was Son Gohan, meaning... "He's the child of Son Goku?"

"Yep. Poor guy. He still blames himself for Goku's death. He looks fine and all, but Chi-Chi tells us that he has nightmares almost every night, even though he rarely had any before. One time, he was so caught up in his dream, he fired a kamehameha wave! Thank goodness it was a weak one, but he still managed to destroy the roof."

18 eyed the boy with curiosity. It still surprised her that out of all the combatants she had been in the presence of, he was the one responsible for Cell's complete annihilation. As she was contemplating this, the boy wandered over. "Hello. I don't think we've really properly met. My name's Gohan. Nice to meet you."

He held out his hand to her, a gesture that she would decline if it were by any -well, ALMOST any other person. Shocking both Krillin and some prying onlookers, she shook his hand.

Smiling, Gohan turned to Krillin. "Krillin, is she your girlfriend now?" Both Krillin and 18 blushed, the latter regaining control far quicker than the former. Krillin was left in a sorry, blubbering mess of "No!"s, "Gohan!"s and "Don't say that!"s.

* * *

Since then, Gohan and 18 had formed a strange relationship. While she was not openly emotional with him, she professed a sense of respect for him, understanding that some wounds never go away.

Krillin ran out of the house, bearing a strange... Thing. It was only when he got closer that Gohan could tell that it was one of those things than his mother would put over her eyes to help her sleep. "_I think they're called... Sleep glasses?"_ Krillin tossed them over to Gohan, who slipped them over his eyes. "_Night mask?"_

Krillin's voice rang out from the darkness. "Alright, Gohan. We're going to star-" 18 interrupted him. "Hang on just a moment." Gohan heard her fly away, before hearing a loud "THUMP" and a subsequent "OW!" While the blinded Saiyan was still wondering what was going on, the sound of feet hitting the sand met his ears. "That old pervert was looking at me again." "Yeah, I know, Eighteen. I'll have a talk with him... Anyways, Gohan, I think we should get above the water. We wouldn't want to hurt Kame House."

Less than a minute following, Gohan was standing on different soil. still guessing the name of his blindfold. "_Dream spectacles?"_

"Ready... And... Go!"

"_Oh! I remember now! They're sleep goggl-"_ A loud explosion intervened with Gohan's discovery. This interruption was made more intense by the fact that Gohan was at the epicenter of the large blast, which stung quite a bit. Flying up high, the Saiyan took a deep breath, almost relaxing before hearing air displacement. Attempting to dodge, Gohan found himself face-planting with a particularly vicious foot. "_Well, at least Eighteen isn't going easy on this one."_ Analyzing the nearby area with his ki, Gohan sensed a small amount of ki headed straight towards him. Moving rapidly to one side, he realized that the signature was Krillin's, and that he was intensely suppressing his. Sensing another ki nearby, Gohan opened fire. After realizing that the ki seemed to stop existing, Gohan thought he had successfully stopped a particularly weak energy attack before he heard Krillin saying "Poor bird."

Flying towards where he thought the formerly-bald fighter, the eldest son of Goku unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches at a close but seemingly intangible Krillin. Gohan only knew he found his mark when he made contact with the former-monk's chest and heard a grunt. Just as he was going to continue his attack, Gohan's head was hit by a very swift punch, followed by two more. Gohan dove down, firing twenty attacks at what he hoped to be Android 18, but was disappointed to hear no immediate sounds of explosions. Charging his energy up, Gohan moved quickly and swiftly, trying to dodge the whooshes that he heard. Over time, he slowly became more and more successful with his evasion of his two opponents' attacks. However, no matter how well he could dodge, Gohan was having an increasingly hard time landing a hit as Krillin modified his attack strategy and 18 changed her brutality. "_This will never work! Even though my hearing is super strong, I still can't fully dodge, much less attack. I need a new strategy!"_

Powering up to near his base-form's utmost capacity, Gohan flew up high and tapped into his energies, increasing his ki dramatically. Suddenly, the young Saiyan sensed movement below him and eluded a dangerously close object that nearly hit him. As the unidentified entity turned around and headed back towards Gohan, he suddenly realized what it was. "_That must be Eighteen! Since my energy is so strong, I can sense the areas where there isn't ki!"_

With this newfound ability, he began tipping the odds into his favor. He progressively got more and more in-tune with his tracking of the fast and powerful android. Soon, he was able to fight 18 and Krillin proficiently enough so that he was winning. No matter how many times they would attempt to coordinate their attacks, Gohan was able to repel and counter effectively, often inflicting more damage on the duo than they did to himself. After twenty minutes of this, he finally delivered a final hit to Krillin, knocking the monk into the ocean with a loud splash. As soon as he made contact with the water, his wife started engaging Gohan in what was obviously a final ditch-effort confrontation. Though he couldn't see and was basing all his actions on the fuzzy cavity of ki, he was triumphant. The android was defeated with a powerful energy blast, and her retreat was evident to Gohan. "Can I take this thing off now?" Krillin's weak voice met his ears. "Yeah, yeah, Gohan. You win."

* * *

The following day, Gohan stuffed himself at breakfast, helped his mother with the dishes, and flew off to West City with Goten on Nimbus. Parking in their usual part of the huge building, the two Son children leaped off of the orange cloud. Goten raced ahead, while Gohan was walking leisurely, enjoying fresh air while he could. Soon enough, he would be trapped in a hot and dark chamber with the Prince of All Egomaniacs.

After a good minute of peace, Gohan walked indoors. Bulma was in the living area, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. "Hey, Gohan! How's it going?" She hugged him, then walked into the kitchen and grabbed him a plate of baked goods. "My mom was feeling rather productive yesterday, so she made some cookies and rolls. Do you like them?" Gohan grinned as he finished chewing. "They're delicious! They taste even better than my mom's!"

"Yeah, Goten said the same thing. Anyways, I see you've been putting the suit I gave you to good use!"

Gohan scratched his head. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Bulma pushed the paper she was reading over towards him. On the front cover was a large in-color picture of Gohan as the Great Saiyaman punching a criminal. The title read "SAIYAMAN: The New Hero of Satan City!" Gohan smiled at that. "Oh yeah! How could I forget?"

Bulma laughed and continued "Oh, there's lots in the article. I've been keeping track of your little 'escapades' all week! It seems the only person that is opposed to you is that Videl girl that was originally suspicious of you! I really want to know how her father will talk about this. He'd either have to call you a fake, or he'd be forced to say his stupid 'light trick' theory isn't true and ki is an actual thing!"

Gohan shrugged. "I haven't used any ki blasts, so I don't think he would make any effort to support or attack me. Besides, his daughter is the only one that really hates me! As Saiyaman, at least. At school we're pretty good acquaintances."

Bulma laughed. "That reminds me: Do you think she's cute?"

Gohan jumped and blushed. "Bulma! Why would you say that?!"

Fortunately from him, he was spared from further ribbing by a certain rough voice. "Brat! Do I have to wait all day for you to finish your chitchat?" Gohan spun around and saw Vegeta leaning against a doorway in the direction of the Gravity Room.

Bulma laughed. "Don't be so rushed, Vegeta! I was just talking to Gohan about his new job!"

Vegeta's scowl twisted into a smirk. "Hah! For being a powerful warrior beating up low-life scum, you sure do seem to be afraid of that daughter of the oaf."

Gohan rubbed his face with his hand. "You don't understand! If she finds out who I am, Mom will kill me!"

Vegeta nodded as he turned away. "Whatever. Bulma showed me some of the newspapers. It's ridiculous that you're even bothering fighting dirt like them. If I were you, I would simply wipe out any thieves with a single energy attack."

Bulma sternly voiced her disapproval. "Now Vegeta. Killing people isn't nice."

Vegeta snorted as he turned walked towards the Gravity Room, Gohan right on his -ahem- tail. As the door slid open to the humming and darkened chamber, he thought "_Time to get some real training done."_

* * *

Videl's weekend was both unpleasant and enjoyable. The good part was that she was able to hang out with Erasa and Sharpner for a good amount of time due to a sudden lack of crimes. The bad news was that the source of her free time was caused by a certain someone she had deemed 'The Single Biggest Jerk in the World.' Saiyaman had led to a large lowering of crime throughout the city. Although she appreciated the help, Videl couldn't help but still be suspicious.

"_I just can't trust someone who's afraid to show their face, damn it!" _She was thinking one sleepless Friday night. This thought was immediately followed by a "_I really need to get a life."_

The following morning, she went shopping with Erasa at the Satan City Mall, one of the biggest shopping centers in the world. After meeting up outside, the two girls went clothes shopping for awhile before taking a break at their favorite coffee shop. As Erasa set down all of her bags at one table, Videl slumped into a chair, bearing their beverages. After some time of relaxingly sipping at their steaming drinks, Erasa prompted a conversation. "I think I won." Videl's eyebrows rose. "Huh? What are you on about?"

Erasa took another long sip, the areas next to her eyes crinkling as they met Videl's gaze. "Don't you remember our bet? The one involving a certain Gohan?"

Videl scowled. "Oh yeah. What about it?"

Erasa smiled as she tapped her cheek. "I just remembered it, and I realized that you never promised anything in return. So what do you owe me?"

Videl started to counter. "But-"

"No buts, Videl! You said that Gohan would be a bad guy by the end of the week, and I still see the same person that we met on Monday!"

Videl frowned at her drink. "That's not fair, Erasa!"

"Uh-uh! None of that! I won fair and square! But what do you owe me?" A five second pause took place before she exclaimed "I know! You have to kiss Gohan!"

"NO, ERASA!" Erasa stuck out her tongue at the dark-haired girl across the table from her. "Fine then, loser, you don't have to do anything! It was just an idea, you know!"

Videl banged her head lightly against their little wooden table in the corner of the shop. "Why are you so obsessed with him?! And why do you want me to hook up with him?!"

The blonde girl started smirking. "Well, he is kind, cute, smart, and single. Also, you seem to enjoy being around him, which is a first since the only person you could actually like being around is... Oh yeah. Nobody."

Videl looked disapprovingly at her friend. "Don't say that, Erasa. I like being around you!"

Erasa lifted one eyebrow cockily, her smirk more present than ever. "I know that. I was just wanting to see if you'd answer the way I wanted you to. You didn't deny that you like being around Gohan!"

Videl whined "Erasa! Why are you doing this to me?! He's just a somewhat okay person that I can be around without being bombarded with requests for favors! It is strictly platonic!"

Erasa got out of her chair, did a little dance, then walked away to dispose of her cup. Over her shoulder, she called out. "You keep telling yourself that!"

Videl growled in anger and stalked after her friend, coffee cup close to being crushed by her frustration. "I'm going to kill you, Erasa!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: A Quick Detour

As the two Sons were coming home from a particularly exhausting time at the Briefs', Gohan gazed wistfully at Satan City. _"I bet there's a crime going on right now. I could probably go and help out, too." _When they landed, Gohan stood out in the field just long enough to see Goten run indoors before he took to the air, performing multiple gracious twists as he ascended to a high altitude. He then blasted off towards Satan City, the sound of rolling thunder at his wake. In less than thirty minutes, Gohan was fully outfitted and locating a hostage situation taking place. When he found the address provided by the nice lady on the police radio, he quickly and quietly on a rooftop across the street. From there, he conducted reconnaissance of the problem. There appeared to be thirteen ki signatures in the building, four of which were stationary and seemed to be fluctuating widely. "_Those must be the hostages."_

Further investigation yielded that the nine other energy signals were moving about, one of them seemingly circling the hostages. "_And those are the targets!"_ Gohan almost leaped down from his rooftop hiding place when a large, yellow, jetcopter roared above the buildings and touched down in the cleared street below. "_Oh no! Not her! Not now! I wanted to make this a short trip!"_ A raven haired girl jumped out of the large machine, pressing a button as she stepped away. A loud "POOF" sounded, and a cloud of smoke enveloped her and her machine.

* * *

Running over to the police chief, Videl stowed away her capsulated vehicle. "What's the status, Chief?" The police chief turned and looked seriously over to her. "Well, Videl, to be honest, we aren't entirely certain. These guys seem to know what they're doing, because they've built a really strategic defense. The SWAT team say that the whole complex is too well fortified. They haven't harmed the hostages yet, but we don't know how long they've got. If you can't make it through, I think we'll have to use explosives and shock grenades to rush those perps before they can do any real damage to anyone.

"Alright. I'm going in."

"Videl? Could you take a few officers along with you? These guys seem to have a plan and guns, and those two things are difficult to fight with fists."

"I'll be fine, Chief. If it becomes too much for me to handle, I'll pull back, I promise."

"Good luck, Videl."

* * *

As Videl sprinted into the building, Gohan crept on the rooftop above. _"I can see why the special forces would have a hard time. This building has no entryways or exits except for the front door. It's like an firefighter's nightmare."_ Looking over the edge on each side, he finally resolved that he would have to go the one way he didn't want to: The front door. Gohan took a deep breath before jumping off the roof and flying into the building, merely a blurred streak of red, green, and black. Unfortunately, he was spotted.

"Chief! Did ya see that?"

"Yes! Do you think it's him?"

"Almost positive, sir! What should we do?" The chief scratched his chin. "We will wait for now. If Videl doesn't come out in five minutes or there's gunfire, I want the squad mobilized and taking the criminals out, no matter the cost."

"Yes sir!" As the officer bustled away, the chief turned his gaze back towards the building, wishing he could see what was happening that very instant. _"I hope to God that I'm right about this Saiyaman kid."_

* * *

Videl tread softly through the complex building. Somewhat anxious, she was sure not to make a sound. Once, she heard the approaching footsteps of a hostage-taker, and she had to force herself not to attack. "_Not yet, Videl. This isn't a situation that can be easily solved with a punch."_ As the felon's steps receded, she continued moving. Finding a passage that seemed to lead towards the center of the building, Videl snuck down yet another dimly-lit corridor. Little did she know that one of the many men she despised was rapidly advancing towards her.

* * *

Air rushed by Gohan as he flew through the building. "_Where is everyone?"_ He partially lamented. "_I wanted some quick action so I could get home fast, but this seems like it might take longer than I thought!"_ Speeding himself up, he flew rapidly through the hallways before coming to a speedy and chaotic halt.

"Ah!"

"Eep!"

Gohan crashed into another body. The person quickly picked themselves up and fell into a fighting stance, before their eyes widened in comprehension.

"YOU."

Gohan was still shocked at the sudden appearance of Videl. "Wha...?"

"What are you doing here!?"

Gohan scratched his head. "Stopping crime...?"

Videl crossed her arms. "Yeah, right. Like I need your help! Now go away! The criminals likely heard us, thanks to your blunder!"

Gohan disappeared for an instant before reappearing. Videl heard a crash behind her and whirled around to see one of the hostage-takers limp body on the ground. A large hand-shaped bruise adorned the bad guy's forehead.

She turned back to one of her other sources of problems. "What do you want?"

"Huh?"

"Why. Are. You. Here?"

Gohan scratched his chin, since his usual spot wasn't accessible. "I merely wished to assist you. That is all." Videl sighed out of annoyance and exasperation. "Don't lie to me. You want something, like money or popularity."

Gohan shook his head rapidly, concentrating on remaining quiet whilst still using his Saiyaman voice. "No, Miss. I simply wish to uphold the good and rid the evil!"

Videl rolled her eyes. "Fine then. If you won't tell me what you want, at least tell me who you are!" Gohan anxiously chuckled as he began perspiring. "We've already been over this, Miss Videl. I am the Great... Sai-!"

"NO! Just shut up!" Videl rubbed her temples in frustration. "You do know that I'll figure out who you are eventually! My family's rich, and I swear I would spend every last penny of it to find out your real identity!" She took a deep breath. "Fine. If you won't tell me, then you can just leave. I've got the situation handled without your help." She continued her journey towards the supposed whereabouts of the hostages. Not surprisingly, Saiyaman tailed her. She turned towards him and realized he had gotten a bit taller. Looking at his feet, she realized that his feet weren't touching the ground. "Don't use those light tricks at a time like this! You've got some serious nerve doing that next to me while I'm working."

Gohan chuckled in his heroic voice. "Don't be silly, Miss Videl! These aren't tricks, and they are very helpful!"

Videl hissed at him. "Listen here, Stupidman. You keep using that stuff, and you'll get both of us killed!"

A rough voice rang out from behind her, shocking them both. "Too late." They turned, Gohan internally cursing himself for not scanning for ki. "Hey fellas! Looks like we've got two more hostages!" The heavy stamping of running feet was heard, and the criminal was joined moments later by two of his breathless comrades."What have we here?"

One of them cackled. "That girl is Mr. Satan's kid! I guess the cops sent her in to beat us up for them!"

The three guffawed at that. "Well, it looks as though she miserably failed. What about that other one?" They all looked contemplatively at Gohan, who suddenly found himself to be the center of attention.

"Now wait just a second... He's that guy who's been flying around town, beating people up! I 'eard that he can use those crazy light tricks an' stuff!"

The original crook spoke directly to Gohan. "Boy! Take that ridiculous helmet off! It's giving me a headache!" Gohan didn't move, planning out his actions. "Hey! I'm talking to you! Tell you what: Take off the trashcan, or we fill you with bullets!"

Gohan laughed. "That's where you're wrong! You can shoot me, but it won't have an effect!"

The three started laughing again. "Alright, then! Maybe you're right! If you're so full of hot air, no amount of gunshots can take that away. How about I shoot your girlfriend first, then get back to you?"

Both Gohan and Videl stared blankly at the grinning wrongdoer for about five seconds. Videl blinked, then screeched "NO! I'm not his- He's not my- How- NO!" Gohan took slightly longer to understand, but eventually his stammering protests joined hers.

The leader tsked at them. "Whatever, lovebirds. Fine, we don't need to know who you are anyways. I personally couldn't care less. However, you are now both hostages, and you, Satan, are going to be our main bargaining chip."

Gohan was completely and utterly done at this point and was getting really concerned on what his mother would do to him once he got home for running out for so long. "Excuse me, Mister Ralph, but I'm afraid this has gone on long enough."

The leader froze. "What did you just call me?"

Gohan spoke again, a smirk evident in his voice. "You are John Barrett Ralph, manager at Fitzburg Autoworks?"

John began shaking. "How'd you know that? Who ARE you?" He pointed his gun at Gohan's helmet. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" One of the other criminals nudged John. "John! Probably shouldn' shoot the hostages 'til we need to."

Videl took this as an opportunity to gain the upper hand. "Listen to what he's saying, John. Put the gun down." John turned his firearm shakily to Videl. "_Crap! That didn't work at all!"_

"YOU SHUT UP!"

Gohan leaped into action. Slapping the crook's gun arm down in the time it takes to blink, he swept out John's feet while lightly brushing his face with his knuckles. Quick as a rabbit, Gohan then chopped the second man's neck, taking care to be incredibly delicate. Turning to the third criminal, he was shocked to find that the man was already bent over, wheezing.

Videl's foot delivered a finishing blow, and the gasping man hit the wall, then the ground. Gohan couldn't help but be impressed. "_She really is good!"_ Videl smirked at Gohan, somehow reading his expression despite the helmet. "Don't be too surprised. I'm far more of a formidable fighter than these three." Gohan laughed. "I don't doubt it, Miss Videl!"

Her smile disappeared. "Don't get all friendly with me. I still don't trust you, and I still think you're a coward with your light tricks, but it seems that I just can't get rid of you. So listen up: I'll let you help me this one time, and this one time only. In return, this should the last time I should ever have to set eyes upon you. Got it?"

Gohan gulped uneasily. "_Well, I can't make any guarantees on the second part, but I can work with the former."_ "S-Sure thing!" Videl further intensified her expression to make her point, then turned away. "Alright. Let's go."

Gohan wiped the area of his face not covered by the mask. _"Phew! I never thought any normal human besides my mom could be so scary!"_

Videl began sneaking down the hallway, Gohan following her closely. "Alright, Saiyaman, I'm sure that at least one of them heard what happened back there. Be careful, because I'm sure we're going to have company in a few moments." True to her prediction, they encountered a gunman rounding a corner not twenty seconds after she said that. Videl quickly beat up the person, before taking his gun and emptying it of bullets. This process of sneaking around and beating up unsuspecting criminals went on for another minute or so. After pummeling the fourth hostage-taker, Gohan pointed to where he sensed the captives to be.

"We need to go that way, Miss Videl." The following minute was spent searching for a way to get there, before Gohan finally found it. As the two of them crept along towards what was obviously the main chamber, Videl stopped and pushed Gohan aside. "Listen here, you masked dork. I need you to be quiet and step aside for this part. I don't know what game you're playing in where you can just dress up and go out and fight crime, but this part involves saving lives, and that is best left to the professionals. So sit tight, and you'll get to see firsthand why the police call me to do this sort of thing." Gohan nodded. _"She can probably handle this alone. I'll only intervene if needed, but I doubt she'll need any help."_

Taking a deep breath, Videl cracked open the door and spotted her opponent. Waiting for the right time, she slowly opened it to the point that she could sneak through, then enacted her plan. Rushing out, she graciously kicked the criminal's firearm out of his hand, afraid that a shot might accidentally fired at the bound, gagged, and blindfolded hostages. From there, she engaged the man in combat. Though it was obvious that he had some knowledge on martial arts, he still had no chance at winning. However, right as Gohan considered completely dismissing Videl this time because it was obvious that his help was both not needed nor wanted, he spotted a gun-toting John entering through a corridor on the opposing side of the room.

_"Uh oh! I must not have hit him hard enough!"_ Videl and the other captor were still fighting, and Gohan had to think fast. _"Videl doesn't know he's here, so I should probably stop him before he gets to far out of hand. Then again, Videl would stop at nothing to kill me if she sees that I took a piece of the action." _Seeing John raise his gun forced Gohan to make the split-second decision. He vanished into thin air and reappeared at the other side of the room. John pointed his gun and tried to fire at Videl, but found that his weapon wasn't there. Then, a white gloved hand made its way up to his face, bringing with it the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

Videl finished the battle with a knee to the crotch and a backwards kick. "_And that's how you do it."_ As her opponent fell, she swiftly got to untying the hostages. As she freed the first one, who appeared to be an elderly woman in her late 70s, she got tearfully hugged. "Oh thank you, Videl!" The crime-fighter smiled. "It's no problem." Raising her voice, she called out "Hey, Saiyadork! Come help me untie these guys!" No sooner had she finished saying that had Gohan appeared at her side and began helping her.

After he pulled the blindfold off the first guy, the former captive screamed and slapped Gohan, who subsequently leaped back. "Hey! What was that for?"

The man shakily pointed at Gohan. "You aren't one of the bad guys?"

Gohan shook his head rapidly. Videl decided to intervene. "He's with me."

The man's face instantaneously brightened. "Hey, Videl! I knew you'd rescue us!" He lowered his voice. "Who's that guy?" He motioned towards Gohan, who was rapidly freeing the others but wisely choosing to let them take off their own eye accessories. "Oh him? He's a just a... Ummm... A trickster who's trying to help out."

"Why on Earth are you letting him help you?" Videl frowned. "I don't know... He was being very persistent, so I told him he could help me just once." She stood up, and helped the man to his feet. Turning, she saw that everyone else was stumbling around and looking disoriented. Quite a few of them looked uneasy around Saiyaman, which didn't really surprise Videl. "_I don't blame them. I can't trust him either."_

Suddenly, a crowd of black-clothed and helmeted individuals burst into the room. Their riot shields gleamed, and Videl was temporarily shocked. "Who's there?" However, just as she began putting her thoughts in order and preparing for her attack, she heard a shocked voice call out. "Mi-Miss Satan?" Blinking, she realized that the strangers were merely the police special forces. One of the police officers stepped forward. "What- What happened here? Did you really beat those guys?"

Videl frowned. "What? Did you not expect me to?"

The police officer scrambled to recover from the dangerous territory he had wandered into. "Not at all! I just thought that, see, they had guns and they were multiple people, so I just thought you might be, well, having _a little_ trouble."

Videl held her head high as she said "No. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle." The officer bowed his head. "Yes, of course. My mistake." Suddenly, one of the officers the quite conspicuous Saiyaman standing awkwardly in the corner. "You there! Freeze!"

Gohan was quite confused. "Huh? What's the matter, officer?"

"Put your hands over your head! Now!" The police squadron were beginning to look quite hostile to Gohan, who didn't understand nor like where this meeting was going. As he slowly raised his hands, he called out "Can I ask why?" The response he got was "Miss Satan requested that you be taken in for investigation. Now keep your hands up, and drop to your knees!" Gohan let his hands drop freely and stood still. The police clearly tensed up as they prepared for combat, but Gohan knew they didn't need to fret. "_Of course she wanted that. I could humor them a bit more, but then Mom would skin me alive if I took any longer than I have!"_

"I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I must be off! I'll try to answer your questions another time!" The police trained their guns on Gohan and tried to close off the exits. "Saiyaman, we can't let you leave. We just need to ask you some questions!" Videl called out. As Gohan lifted off the floor, she ran over to him and tackled him, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey!"

"Stop moving!"

"What are you doing?!"

"Stop making this so difficult!"

"I need to leave!"

"OFFICERS. A LITTLE HELP, PLEASE?"

As the team rushed forwards, Gohan leaped free of Videl's pin. The stress of the situation had got to him, and he allowed a portion of his power to be released. A flash was released from his body, temporarily blinding and knocking down Videl and the police officers.

* * *

"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?" Chi-Chi screeched. "Leaving unannounced!? FLYING ABOUT AND BEATING UP PEOPLE WHEN YOU SHOULD BE PREPARING FOR SCHOOL TOMORROW!? **THIS IS NOT AT ALL OKAY, MISTER!**" Gohan couldn't help but notice and fear the red in his mother's eyes. Fortunately, she began taking deep breaths and calming down. Before Gohan could breathe a sigh of relief, however, she fixed him with a fierce glare, then subsequently brought her frying pan up to meet his face.

* * *

A vast, green meadow spread out all around. In the distance, a white, snow-capped mountain rose majestically in the horizon. Despite the breathtaking scenery, Gohan was far from paying attention to nature. In front of him, a brutal battle was being waged. Two black-haired men were locked in combat, while a green-skinned person was off to the side, holding the stump of where his arm used to be. As the fight progressed, it was clear that the larger and longer-haired of the opponents had the upper hand.

Gohan wanted beyond all else to stop the fighting, to stop the suffering. In spite of his driving motive, he found he simply couldn't move. His feet were rooted to the ground, as though they were being held in place by an unseen and powerful force. No matter how hard he pushed himself, he couldn't even take a step towards two. He helplessly watched as the smaller one was beaten cruelly. However, he kept getting back, only to be beaten again. Gohan was hoping beyond a hope that the he would continue fighting, at least long enough for Gohan to help. Nonetheless, the next time the man fell, he didn't get back up. Five seconds, ten seconds, twenty seconds passed without the slightest movement. Gohan breath caught in his throat. The defeated man's chest wasn't moving. "_No. It can't be."_ Gohan screamed to the heavens. "NO!"

Turning back towards the long-haired one, he felt himself breaking through his prison in a burst of light and began sprinting forwards. The man turned to the green one and began his second assault. Despite his recent fight, the big one didn't seemed tired in the slightest nor fazed by the green man's attacks. Gohan was nearing them, his feet kicking up grass as he charged. "_I have to stop him!" _ When he was merely ten yards away, everything erupted with light. Three seconds passed before Gohan could see again, and he beheld the horrific scene before him. The green man had a gaping hole in his chest, and his eyes rolled back into his skull. Gohan fell to his knees, sobbing. "_No! I let them die! I let them die again..."_ He remained there for what felt like days, before shakily standing. He then glared at the form standing before him. The subject of his hatred was tall and muscular, with countless battle scars slashed across his body. An ugly sneer covered his face, mocking Gohan more and more with each passing second.

"Ah. _There's _my favorite nephew!" Radditz proclaimed haughtily. "Where've you been hiding? Sniveling behind your father as usual?" Radditz's face dropped the sneer and turned into a frown. "You're such a pathetic warrior. How could you possibly be a Saiyan?" His face changed once more, this time into a near-maniacal smile. "Don't worry. Uncle Radditz will teach you to be a fighter, especially now that my weak brother is out of the way."

It was at this point that Gohan snapped. Screaming, he attacked Radditz with a brutal fury. He landed every hit and dodged every attempt Radditz made to reciprocate. Yet somehow, Gohan was taking serious injuries. When his uncle slammed into the ground, Gohan found that he himself was on the verge of passing out from the pain. Then, he heard a quiet chuckle. Turning, he saw the heavily bleeding Radditz panting and smiling. "You're so wea-"

His statement was swiftly disrupted by Gohan kicking his ribcage. At the same time, the teenager felt a spike of pain his own ribs. Putting this aside, he struck once more with his foot, only to receive a blow in the same spot.

Radditz laughed, blood spraying out of his mouth. "Well, well. It seems we're a bit more similar than you thought, aren't we? We both are the ones who indirectly succeeded in killing Kakarot." Gohan screamed as he brought his hands above him to form a pulsating, orange sphere, then slammed it into Radditz. As the world crumbled into blinding light, the last thing he saw was his uncle's wide and bloody grin.


	12. Chapter 12

Hello again. I apologize for the delay. I'll try to be more timely in the future. That said, the intervals for Plight of Gohan updates are probably going to be rather long relative to when I first started this fanfiction, as I'm working very hard on my Code Geass one as well. Thank you for your ongoing support, and here's a thing!

Chapter 12: School Sucks

Gohan's head slammed on his desk. He hadn't slept well the prior night, and ended up flying into the hills at 3 AM in order to train a little. Though it sounded good at the time, he was regretting it now. "_Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh."_ He thought sophisticatedly to himself. It was difficult enough to get up in the morning at the normal time, but this was simply hell. Looking around, he realized that there were only two other students and Mr. Oshieru in the room. He had landed on the roof of the school that morning with the intention of simply sitting and observing the horizon when he realized that the lights were on inside. "_Maybe I should go fight crime... That might wake me up."_ He thought drowsily. Standing up, he stretched and walked up to the roof.

Running a quick scan, the Saiyan adolescent registered no ki signals on the roof besides himself and pressed the red button on his watch. "_This is still so cool."_ Rising from the rooftop, he manipulated the controls on his helmet. Radio chatter filled the helmet before it automatically tuned itself to emergency channels. Floating quietly in the clouds, Gohan yawned every so often as he waited for his call to action. Soon enough, he overheard the magic words "armed robbery". After confirming an address, he speedily zoomed towards his new target.

Gohan's advanced hearing allowed him to hear the distant telltale popping of gunfire. As he neared the site of the firefight engaged between police and mask-wearing robbers, he began planning his way to stop the criminals. "_Maybe I should try jumping right in the middle of the whole thing! That way, everyone would be too stunned to do anything, and I can take care of the bad guys no sweat!" _Resolving to do just that, the disguised Saiyan landed lightly in the middle of the fray. True to his prediction, everyone stood still.

Four seconds after his touchdown, one of the criminals cried out "Shit! It's that one guy!" Interestingly enough, his friends seemed to know exactly who "that one guy" was.

"Yeah! I heard he took out Ralph's gang!"

The police at this point were in a state of confusion, some of them muttering ominously as others seemed to be on the verge of cheering. His back to the latter party, Gohan pointed at the lawbreakers, his other gloved hand resting against his hip. "Sirs, I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn you in for unlawful conduct! Please drop your weapons and surrender to the police!"

The criminals answered by unloading multiple rounds in the direction of Saiyaman. Concerned for any misdirected bullets hitting the police, Gohan caught each projectile with ease, internally sighing as he went along doing so. "_Why can't they just say 'yes' and give up?"_ Unlike the last gang, the crooks continued reloading and firing, with Gohan continuously being the recipient

"Boss! It isn't working! He's just standing there!"

"Get out the bazooka!" One of the ski-mask wearing robbers cackled as he unzipped a large bag in his hand, the police scrambling about behind Gohan, preparing to brace themselves.

As the man pulled out the contents, Gohan had an internal debate, still mindlessly catching some stray bullets, though not all of them now that the police were taking cover. "_If that man shoots a rocket here, it might break the asphalt."_ However, a particular quote from Vegeta lingered in Gohan's mind: "If your opponent is ridiculously inferior to you, let them hit. Not only is it _hilarious_ to watch their face, but it will break them to see that their strongest attacks do nothing." In the position of making the split-second decision, he decided in favor of the (Dark) Prince. "_No wonder Mom is making meet other people. That reminds me..."_ Gohan glanced at his watch. "_Oh! I still have a hour. I have time!" _Looking up, he saw a large tube and a huge set of crosshairs set on him. "_Huh." _Gohan thought eloquently to himself as the rocket launcher unleashed its power upon him.

Looking down at his body, Gohan was pleasantly surprised that his clothes weren't completely destroyed. "_Bulma did a really good job. I should thank her next time I see her."_ Looking up, he saw the criminals shaking in their combat boots. "I-I-I heard h-he could dodge bullets, b-but this is INSANE!" One by one, the crooks tossed down their weapons and held their hands up, giving up their hopes of making it home with the illegal profits. Smiling, Gohan took to the sky, leaving behind the defeated malefactors, cheering police, and a smoking crater.

Gohan corkscrewed through the air as he neared his school. Wind blowing past him, he grinned to himself. "_That sure worked! Now I'm really awake!"_ Landing quietly on the roof of his educational institution, Gohan snuck carefully indoors. Walking through the empty hallways of his school, he traveled aimlessly. There were a few more people than there had been before, but there was still quite some time before school. Eventually, he slumped in a quiet corner of a particularly vacant corridor and closed his eyes. His thoughts grew more and more muddled and his thoughts of his upcoming classes slipped away. "_I'm sure that it would okay to get some shut-eye after last night."_ He thought drowsily. "_Darn. It's no good. The energy I felt was too short-lived."_ Shortly afterwards, Gohan fell into a blurred void.

* * *

Videl stalked through the hallways, Erasa and Sharpner flanking her. "Huh. That's weird. Gohan isn't in his usual spot..."

Sharpner shrugged. "Eh. Maybe he's sick or something."

VIdel crossed her arms and frowned. "Hmmm..."

Erasa giggled. "Are you upset, Videl?"

Sharpner walked up next to her and smirked. "Yeah. If I didn't already know that you were a cold and heartless bitch, I would almost say you like him!"

Videl whirled around. "What?! No way! I don't like him! He's a weak, pathetic nerd!"

An snicker that reeked of self-centeredness sounded off behind her. "Besides, she's in love with me!" The trio turned to see Billy and a few of his friends, standing tall and proud.

Videl scoffed. "Ew. Please. If I had to choose, I'd _much_ rather go out with Gohan than you."

Billy snorted. "Really? You'd rather date such a weakling when someone as great as I am standing right here?"

idel nodded, her eyes greatly narrowed. Billy's eyed her viciously, his calm demeanor dropping like Frieza's death ball. "What does he have that I don't? I'm obviously better-looking, and he's a billion times weaker than I am!"

Videl's cold laugh echoed in the corridor. "Gohan's smart, nice, and caring, while you're just an annoying and self-centered jerk! He may be weak, but at least he treats me as a person!" She glared at Billy, whose fury was evident on his red face.

Stepping forwards, he found himself held in place by one of his friends. "Don't do it, man." Another one piped up. "Yeah. It isn't worth it, bro." Billy looked at each in turn, then looked back at Videl and her friends. She had her hands on her hips, her anger on open display through her body language. Sharpner had his arms crossed, his usual smirk substituted with a brooding look, almost as though he were calculating combat styles. Erasa, though not quite as combat-ready, showed equal defiance as the other two. Billy growled. "Fine. Let's go." With that, they turned away.

* * *

Videl slammed her head repeatedly against her locker. "Oh. My. God. He's. So. Annoying!"

Sharpner chuckled. "Tell me about it. I still can't believe you haven't killed him yet."

Erasa chimed in. "Sharpner, not everyone goes and punches their problems away." Sharpner grumbled incoherently in response. Erasa then turned to Videl. "So you _do_ like Gohan!"

Videl's face felt as though it were on fire as she retorted loudly. "For the billionth time Erasa, NO! I just said that I'd rather go out with him than Billy! That's basically everyone in the whole world!"

Erasa giggled. "I don't know, Videl. Those were about the nicest things you've ever said about anyone ever!" Grumbling, Videl walked away. "Vi, where are you going? Class is _this _way!" Videl stopped for a second. "I'm going for a walk." She huffed. "I need some air."

As the trio rounded a corner, they saw a familiar figure slumped against a wall. "Is that... Gohan?" Videl called out the last word, but no response was heard.

Sharpner laughed. "Nerd Boy must be taking a nap!"

Erasa elbowed him in the ribs. "Sharpner! Don't call him names!"

The blonde male rubbed his side resentfully. "Calm down, Erasa, it's just a joke." The three teens approached the sleeping Saiyan. Sharpner chuckled. "How about we give him a little scare to wake him up?"

Videl shot a glare at him. His sharp facial features frowned. "Why is everyone so crabby today?"

Surrounding the slumbering Gohan, the three friends stood quietly. After a few moments of peaceful silence, Erasa spoke up. "So are we just going to stand here, or are we actually going to wake him up?"

Videl's ever present frown deepened. "I don't see why not. Class is going to start soon, and he'd probably rather die than be marked tardy."

Sharpner shrugged, getting bored. "Well, I don't want to be the one to get him up, so... Nose goes!" He tapped his nose, quickly mirrored by Erasa, who giggled. Videl rolled her eyes at her best friends' continued use of a playground game in high school, but accepted her newfound role. Crouching, the Satan girl reached out to shake Gohan's shoulder when she was stopped by a whimper from the sleeping boy. Her cross complexion had concern flash across it before she reached out once more, only to be halted once more by a sleepy groan. As she watched, Gohan's face switched from peaceful to upset in a matter of seconds. His body stiffened as he uttered a quiet cry.

Videl stood up and looked to the others. Erasa was expressing mild concern, while Sharpner looked as though he could hardly care less. "Huh. He must be having a nightmare or something. Just wake him up already."

Videl prepared a retort to him, but its construction was swiftly broken by a yell.

"Ah!" Gohan leaped to his feet, his eyes looking scared and confused.

The sudden outburst elicited an equally intense reactions from his audience. The girls jumped, while Sharpner let out a strangled scream and fell backwards.

An awkward pause ensued as Gohan took in his surroundings. "Uh... Hi, guys!"

Sharpner scrambled to his feet, rubbing his bottom as he stood up. "Hey, Gohan. Wh-Whats up?"

Gohan blushed. "Were you guys watching me sleep?" The three teenagers suddenly felt awkward. Videl felt herself redden as she thought _"Well, when you put it that way.."_

Erasa came to the rescue. "We were just about to wake you up!"

Gohan nodded, scratching his head as he did so. "Oh. Okay. Thanks! By the way... Did I talk?" After seeing the adolescents' not understanding, he rephrased it. "Did I say anything while I was asleep?"

Sharpner shook his head. "No... Why?" He smirked. "Were you dreaming of something embarrassing?" Gohan slumped, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he did so. "No. It's just that I usually talk in my sleep when I have nightmares." He then shot them a look none of them ever expected to see on Gohan's face: Suspicion. "You won't tell anyone, right?" The trio shook their heads. His face slackened into a more relaxed position. "Good... Wait, how much longer do we have until class?" He glanced at his watch, and his recently enlightened face displayed complete alarm. "Oh no! Less than a minute! I'm going to be late! My mom's going to kill me with the frying pan!" Leaping to his feet, he dashed past the three stunned teenagers. Soon afterwards, they shook themselves out of their shock and began running as well.

"Is it just me," Erasa panted as she sprinted with the others towards the classroom "or does Gohan's mom sound _super_ crazy?!"

* * *

As always, class was quite uneventful for Gohan. Sighing, he stretched as Mr. Oshieru continued his lesson on what Gohan always assumed was extremely basic. "_Maybe this is why Mom didn't want me to learn at normal school..."_ He thought as he gazed dreamily out the large windows.

* * *

Videl's wristwatch beeped loudly and repeatedly. "_Thank God. This class is so boring!"_ "Videl here."

Static crackled before the Chief's voice rang through. "Videl! We're in a bad spot! The Laughing Coffin Gang has taken control of the City Hall! They're demanding that we transfer six billion zeni to their account, or they'll blow the building! They've also got hostages!" Leaping down the stairs from her seat, she seemed unstoppable. Getting to the school's rooftop, she nodded towards two shocked seniors who were in the middle of passionately kissing. The Satan girl pressed a button on her specially designated capsule and tossed it into the air, where it burst into a large cloud of smoke. As the haze cleared, Videl took off towards the City Hall, preparing herself for the fight that was sure to follow.

* * *

Gohan sweat nervously as he stared at the doorway where Videl just disappeared. "_I can't leave right away, otherwise people will start to become suspicious, but if I don't, I might be too late!"_ He took a deep, shaky breath. "_Think, Gohan! Think, think, think!"_

Erasa leaned over. "Hey, Gohan, you okay?" Gohan jumped in his seat, slamming his knees against the table. Unperturbed by the loud noise that he had made and the many eyes looking his way, he whispered in reply. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little nervous for Videl." Erasa grinned and laughed quietly. "That's cute! Don't worry about her. She'll be fine. She's dealt with way more tough things than this!"

He nodded and casted a wary look at Videl's empty spot. _"Still... It's hard to just stand by and wait..."_ After a few seconds, he got an idea. _"What If I pretend to-" _A loud ringing disrupted his scheming.

"What? Is class out already?" Gohan gaped as everyone began packing up. "Of course it is, silly!" Erasa said as she placed her books in her bag.

Sharpner laughed. "Why? Do you honestly _want_ to stay in class?" As they stepped out the door, Gohan explained. "Well, I guess I just wasn't keeping track of time..." With that, he sprinted away.

Erasa and Sharpner looked at his shrinking form curiously, the latter voicing both of their thoughts. "I wonder what up with him."

Reaching the rooftop, Gohan scanned around him for ki, and upon finding no hidden entities, took to the air. As his suit flickered and solidified around him, his thoughts were on a certain Satan. _"I hope I can make it in time."_

Landing at the obvious scene of the crime, he observed the even larger than usual crowd of emergency vehicles surrounding the Satan City Hall. Landing gently, he walked up to the Chief, who was giving orders to some of his men. The underlings gasped and pulled their pistols in Gohan, who ignored them. "Excuse me, sir?"

The police chief stared at the helmet for a second before coming to his senses. "Sai-Saiyaman? What're you doing here?"

Gohan frowned. _"Well this isn't the reception I wanted."_

"I was wondering how Videl is doing."

The police chief sighed and held up his hand, indicating an all-clear for the alert officers with their guns trained into the superhero. As his coworkers stowed away their weapons, the Chief began pacing. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but I think I can trust you. But don't tell Videl I said that! Anyways, to the best of our knowledge, there are explosives on the second floor that are remote-detonated. This also seems to be the area where the hostages are being kept, so we can't just try and take one without risking the other. Videl was sent in there to do recon, and two of my best men were sent in right after her as support. From what I've heard, everything's been going fine for them, but they haven't located th-" Gohan's head jerked towards the building, his covered eyes staring piercingly at the tall structure. "Videl's in trouble." With that he took off, leaving only an afterimage in his place.

* * *

Videl paused and listened intently, trying to detect any signs of life in the building. However, the only thing she could hear was the quiet panting of the two officers that had trailed her. After a few seconds of this, one of them spoke breathily. "Miss Videl, shouldn't we go back? We've already gathered plenty of recon info on the building, and it's getting really dangerous." Videl shot a withering glare at him. "If you need to, you can retreat, but I haven't even gotten started. We don't even know where the hostages are!" The officer held his head down in shame, and Videl pushed onwards. Stopping every so often, they scouted several areas of the second floor before realizing that something was wrong. As they rested briefly, Videl interrogated the police. "How did we find out that the hostages and explosives were on this floor?"

Both the police officers gaped and sweat nervously. "We...-uh..."

"Well... Y'see..."

Slapping her face, Videl groaned. "You got that information from the Laughing Coffin gang in their ransom demands, didn't you?" Both police nodded, their eyes downcast. "Great... Just great. So you've helped them set up an ambush?"

"That's right, Videl." A low voice echoed from the darkened hallway. Videl tensed as she took a battle stance. "Who's there?"

Cackling was heard throughout the hallway. "Why, we're _all _here! We wouldn't want to miss our... Special guests, would we?" The two police flanking her pulled out their pistols, shakily trying to aim at the person in the dark.

The voice responded teasingly. "Tsk, tsk. Put those guns away, or we'll have to remove the hand's they're connected to. And my men wouldn't want that, would we?" A few voices made themselves clear in voicing their agreement. "After all, you're our most esteemed prisoners. By entering this room, you just increased our profits by about a billion zeni!" A cheer emitted from the still invisible crowd, the sheer amount of voices worrying Videl.

Desperate to buy time, Videl asked a question that had been bugging her. "Since when has the Laughing Coffin been in the hostage business? I thought you were more in contract killing."

Laughing was discernible as the man's footsteps receded, before he snapped his fingers. "That's no concern of yours. If I were you, I'd be much more worried about the here and the now." Multiple silhouettes entered Videl's vision. The trembling police officers were petrified with the prospect of being at the mercy of one of the most notorious crime syndicates of Satan City, while Videl shifted her position. _"If I'm going to be taken hostage, I won't let them have an easy time doing it." _Just as the criminals' leering faces came into view, the wall exploded.

* * *

As the thugs scattered in his wake, Gohan knocked out three people with one kick. Spinning about, he continued to incapacitate his opponents with single blows. Videl, who was frozen with shock from Saiyaman just smashing through a wall, began moving to help. With the two crime-fighters in action, it took little time disable the hooligans. Turning about and inspecting their work, Videl gave a quick nod of approval to no one in particular, then turned to Saiyaman, who seemed to be intently inspecting the ceiling. Unbeknownst to the caped crime-fighter, this position gave Videl a good opportunity to examine what was under his mask. _"If I move... right here... I can almost make out his face..."_

To her great frustration, Gohan chose that second to look back at her. "Uh... Miss Videl?" Videl realized that she was staring. Cursing herself, she whirled around to the officers, who, to her astonishment, were actually helping. Most the suspects were handcuffed, and the few that were left over were bound tightly.

Turning back around, Videl glared at Saiyaman. "So... You clearly broke your promise."

He shifted his weight anxiously, and fidgeted a little when he spoke. "Well... I... -um- About that..." Clearing his throat, Gohan gave his hero persona a shot. "Well, Miss Videl, I just couldn't stop defending justice!" He nervously laughed, anxious to just rescue the hostages and leave.

"Riiight." Videl responded sarcastically. "Please, don't lie to me. I know what you are. You're just a thrill-seeking trickster!" Her voice elevated. Gohan jumped at the opportunity to end the discussion. "Miss Videl, there are still people we need to rescue upstairs!" This quieted her immediately, though it increased the anger in the looks she sent at him.

Videl, Gohan, and two nervous policemen slowly yet steadily ascended the staircase. Videl (who was obviously the leader) delivered instructions with hand gestures, while the followers followed them by the letter. Of course, Gohan had no experience with such scenarios, so he just followed what the police were doing to the best of his abilities.

Once they got to the third floor, Videl was flooded by a sudden rush of energy and fear. _"What if they're already waiting for us? What if this another trap?"_

Her sudden anxiety did not go unnoticed by Gohan, who wondered how he could convince her to let him go ahead. He stepped over to her. "Miss Videl, it might be best if I went ahead and-"

He was halted by a hand gesture that recently learned meant "stop". Videl then began speaking slowly and venomously, laying on emphasis on each and every syllable. "Listen here, _Saiya-idiot. _I don't care who you think you are and I don't care for your... Stunts. Just leave me alone, and _go away._"

Gohan frowned. "But I just want to he-"

Videl snapped, her pent-up fury at the masked man reaching a critical point. "No one needs your help! You only use tricks and illusions to try to keep others safe, and that's nowhere good enough to be considered close to a good fighter!"

Gohan stepped backwards hesitantly, as though his mind was in conflict with itself. "Go. Now. Officers, see to it that he doesn't come back inside. I'll be out in a few." Her glare was as cold and calculating as Mecha-Frieza. One of the policemen tried to speak up. "But Videl, he-"

"Now!"

* * *

As the two men escorted Gohan down the flight of stairs, one of them grumbled "I get she can handle it and all, but she doesn't have to be so mean about it!" Gohan silently agreed, but didn't focus on that. _"Even though Videl is strong for a human, I sensed ten people up there, and they most likely have guns! Even sheer combat ability like hers can get overwhelmed by being way outnumbered!"_ After going back to the former standoff scene and removing all the weapons from the still-unconscious criminals, they reached the bottom floor. Making up his mind, Gohan used his superior speed to easily outmaneuver the two men. "I'm sorry sirs, but I must go back and help!"

As he flew up, he could barely make out one of them calling out. "Wait! No! Come back! Videl's going to kill us!"

Gohan raced back up the stairwell, guiding himself towards Videl's ki, when it suddenly plummeted. _"Oh no! She's in trouble!"_ Then, it rose sharply. _"Huh?" _Slowing himself down, he entered the room to see Videl taking the gang down the last member of the game.

* * *

Dodging and pivoting, the daughter of Hercule gracefully managed to avoid the many bullets and blows. With a simple spin kick, she effectively knocked out one man and gained enough angular momentum to leap over to another. Dodging away from his quick punches, she hit him in the throat once and on the forehead twice. She continued this pattern of speedy strafing and one-on-one combat so that she could efficiently divide and conquer, without having to worry about any the gunmen firing upon her. At last, she was left with two opponents: the leader, and one of his henchmen. There was a brief pause before the three rushed into action. Grabbing his handgun, the crime lord took away aim as his underlying unsheathed a knife and swiped at the Satan girl. Videl focused on the blade-wielding one, taking care to avoid his right hand, and by extension, his right side. Fortunately for her, it was obvious that he wasn't proficient at hand-to-hand combat, knife or otherwise. Just before she delivered the final blow, she noticed the ringleader taking aim towards her. _"Well that isn't good." _Executing a perfect somersault, she moved away just as a bullet flew past her head. _"Too close!"_ She then swept out his legs from underneath him before he even had time to take aim again. Videl kicked the gun out of his slackened grip, then brought her foot around to lightly hit his face. Her opponent was knocked unconscious, and she turned to the last one standing. He looked quite nervous, but still determined as he charged at her. Despite his threatening movements, the crime-fighter could sense the slightest hint of hesitancy in his actions, and she capitalized on it. Waiting until his arm brought down the knife in a vertical arc, she sidestepped at the last moment, then let loose one punch. The jab caught him on the cheek, and he sunk to the ground. Videl had won.

* * *

Gohan stood still, his mouth agape. _"She's just full of surprises!"_ Just then, she turned to him. Her face clearly conveyed annoyance, though it was less of a degree than earlier. Videl crossed her arms and exited the room, chin high, eyes closed. After passing him, she paused. "That's how real fighters do it. And that's what will happen to you the next time I see you."

* * *

Gohan raced desperately back to his school. _"Nononononononono!"_ Streaking across the sky, he was sure that he would be late for chemistry... Which would show up on his report card... Which his mom would see! _"Please, Dende. I don't want to die." _

_**"Don't worry, Gohan. You still have three more minutes."**_ Gohan nearly fell from the sky. _"Okay! Good! Thank you! ... But just because Mr. Popo taught you telepathy doesn't mean you should be reading my thoughts!"_

_**"Sorry, Gohan. It's not as though I can just read your mind whenever I want. You just open a connection whenever you call my name that way..."**_ Gohan shook his head and smiled, his school coming into his view. _"Alright, Dende. I'll see you later."_

_**"Bye, Gohan."**_

The young Saiyan scanned his rooftop landing area and, detecting no life-forms, landed. He ran inside just as his ears picked out the faint, yet very familiar, hum of Videl's jet-copter.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello, everyone. I'm sorry for the delay. I hate to say this, but you may notice that my other fanfiction has been updated more frequently than this one. That's because this project is taking the back seat. I'm sorry to say this, but lengthy waits will be common from here on out, unless I suddenly get a lot of free time and some serious motivation to work on this. No matter what, though, I hape to never abandon this project, as I've seen far to many good fanfictions stop abruptly and disappointingly. I don't want to do that to you people, so I will continue to work on this (albiet at a slow pace).

That's the bad news. Sorry about that. Disregarding that, read this!

* * *

Chapter 13: A Surprise Excursion (Part 1)

The rest of the week was far less difficult for Gohan, though there was some obvious negativity being put off by Videl. Gohan got the sneaking suspicion that she thought he was Saiyaman again.

He reflected on the matter as he walked out of PE on Thursday. _"How is she so sure that he's me?! I'm acting as ordinary as I can! Well... Then again... It probably doesn't help that I sometimes seem a bit too strong..." _Gohan winced as he recalled Wednesday's event, in which he had managed to climb up the rope set up in the gym in a near-record time. _"Yeah... I probably need to do a better job. All those guys on those sports teams seem to be too interested in me."_

Members of the baseball, the basketball, the football, the soccer, and the track teams each had approached Gohan from time to time, asking about him joining their team. After he politely refused, some called him a "weak bitch" and walked away, while others tried some more. Nevertheless, Gohan steered clear of such organizations. _"If I joined one of those clubs, everyone would know how strong I am! It's bad enough having PE once a day."_

* * *

On Friday, a permission slip was handed out, a vague description only explaining that it was an educational trip. The Saiyan's friends discussed what their potential destination was.

"Isn't there a zoo in West City?" Sharpner asked Erasa as they walked behind Gohan and Videl to the tree that they usually ate lunch at.

Erasa shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that they have a killer shopping center!"

Videl shook her head. "I can't imagine that they'll take us to a mall, Erasa."

Her friend whined. "I know that, stupid. I never said that we were _going_. I just know that they have a good mall!"

Sharpner chuckled. "Maybe we're going to the East City University. Whatever. Anyways, I remember my dad saying that there was a form at the beginning of the year that, if our parents say yes or something, the school can take the classes on surprise field trips."

Erasa clapped her hand against her forehead. "Duh! This must be our Junior Year trip! How could I forget!"

Videl frowned. "I thought that the field trip was at the end of the year."

Sharpner shook his head. "Nah. Pretty sure it's halfway through the year." This quickly decayed into pointless bickering as a carefree Gohan dug into his lunch.

* * *

On Saturday, Gohan woke in time to leave for training. This time, he was surprised to find that Piccolo was already seated in his living room, sipping a cup of tea. As soon as Gohan stepped into the room, Piccolo rose to his feet. "Piccolo? What're you doing here so early?"

The Namek grunted. "I was actually just training with Tien and Chiaotzu a bit north of here. I figured it would be easier to just stop by."

Gohan stopped paying attention at the last few words. A decadent scent had stolen his attention, and his eyes closed as he licked his chops.

Piccolo saw his pupil's behavior, and sniffed to confirm his suspicions. Yep. It was definitely Chi-Chi's cooking. Just then, the Son mother called out "Gohan, Goten, Piccolo! Food!" The Saiyan teenager and the Green Man walked into the kitchen, entering just in time for a certain short blur to squeeze its way past.

As they all seated themselves, Goten reached out to a steaming pile of pancakes, his fingers only a few centimeters from a tempting flapjack before his reach was slapped away by a spatula. "Goten! Where are your manners! Wait until you're served!"

Goten pouted. "Sorry, Mommy."

Chi-Chi's frustration melted away. "It's alright, sweetheart. Just wait until Mommy says you can eat, okay?"

Goten grinned. "Okay!"

* * *

⸢Author's Note: I know that Nameks don't need to eat, but I assumed that they can eat for enjoyment because Chi-Chi forced Goku and Piccolo to go learn to drive by threatening to not cook for either of them.⸥

* * *

After thanking Chi-Chi for the tea and food, Piccolo took off, leaving Gohan to quickly get his training clothes on. As soon as he ran outside, he flew after Piccolo. Upon landing in a grassy clearing, Gohan's old teacher announced their plan for the day. "I'm going to teach you a new fighting technique."

This got Gohan's undivided attention. "A new technique? What do you mean? My technique works perfectly for me."

Piccolo frowned. "I know that. However, a resourceful warrior should always have a backup. If an enemy can learn your fighting style, they have a greater chance of defeating you, no matter how strong they are. By knowing multiple fighting methods, you can swap your moves at a moment's notice, which can easily confuse your opponent. Besides..." He smirked "This technique will work fine with you, I promise. None of the other Z-Fighters know it, even after being around its creator for so long."

Gohan cocked his head. "Who?"

Piccolo chuckled. "I thought you would have gotten it by now, Gohan. It was Kami's special style."

The younger fighter slapped his own forehead. "Oh yeah! You still have all his techniques in your head, right?" Gohan then gave Piccolo a questioning look. "I never saw Kami fight. Why is his the best for me to learn?"

Piccolo took a few steps back and leaned into his fighting stance. Gohan mirrored him. "Um, Piccolo, I still don't understand what we're doing."

Just then, Piccolo began doing... Something. His hands flew about randomly, as though he were at the controls of an imaginary spaceship, or perhaps an unseeable symphony. Gohan started scooting forwards, unsure of what to expect. After five seconds of odd gestures on Piccolo's part, the Saiyan felt something was wrong.

_"What's going on?! Piccolo's energy is fluctuating! And it feels like there's ki moving around everywhere!"_ Spikes and dips in the air around Gohan. Not knowing what else to do, he charged towards Piccolo, trying to stop this odd scheme before it came to fruition. Unfortunately, Piccolo's plan was already ready, and he put it to action.

As the Saiyan rapidly approached his first martial arts teacher, he prepared a ball of ki. Firing it awhile before he reached Piccolo, Gohan wasn't surprised to see him jump back, having actually predicted that escape. He continued charging and began strafing left to right, down to up, avoiding any potential projectiles. "_Why isn't he attacking? Should I stop?"_ The teenaged Saiyan was quite unsure what he should do, so he kept on going. "_As long as I keep on my toes when I get within hitting range, I should be fine. Although, I wonder what he's doing with all that energy..."_

The distance between the two shrunk quickly. Soon enough, Gohan was only a few yards away, ready to dodge if needed. That is when Piccolo chose to execute his plan. His hands flew out and began moving in a seemingly spasmodic fashion once more. Gohan felt the pockets of energy shift about and grow more powerful. Continuing his charge and hoping beyond hope that he could stop Piccolo, Gohan suddenly found himself enveloped in a powerful mass of bright, white ki.

* * *

Piccolo extended his hand to Gohan, who thankfully accepted the offer. As he got his feet, the Saiyan examined his body. _"Nothing bad. Just a few tears in my gi."_ He then looked to Piccolo. "What was that?"

The green man closed his eyes. "That's one of the reasons why Kami's fighting style is so special. It lets you to manipulate your ki to a greater extent, allowing me to prepare attacks outside of my own reach and concentrate it, making it useful for stealth."

Gohan scratched his head. "I don't get it. If you've known it for this long, why haven't you used it?"

Piccolo shrugged. "It's difficult to master, and it takes time. More importantly, it's somewhat ineffective in the amount of energy it needs. That attack that I used on you was the most powerful I could muster in that amount of time."

"Then why are you teaching me now?" The Namek's eyes opened. "Because you're powerful enough to effectively use it. I always thought that it had no practical application in fighting, other than distracting opponents. The best Kami himself could do was cause an explosion no stronger than a human's "hand grenade". It never had any usefulness for me. However, you have demonstrated that you are able to easily control ki and are strong enough to turn this fighting technique into a formidable power. It will allow you to devote your complete power into speed or strength, allowing you to compete even if you are outmatched by someone who's stronger than you."

Gohan grinned. "Then when do we start?"

* * *

Having already planned out his day and alerting all involved parties, he had to skip his training time at Kame House and instead go straight to West City for some Gravity Room time with Vegeta. Unbeknownst to Vegeta, Gohan had practically mastered Kami's techniques. After they had finished their feast prepared by an army of servant robots, the two had gone to spar in the GR.

"Well, Brat, I've been getting tired of our games at 250Gs. Do you think you could survive another five?"

Gohan began stretching. "Actually, I was wondering if we could skip that and go straight to two-hundred and sixty. I'm also getting a bit bored."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the younger Saiyan and stalked over to the control console. Manipulating a few controls, the hum emitted by the room grew much louder, and the two Saiyan's braced themselves for the increased force. After a few seconds of smirking at a slightly struggling Gohan, Vegeta called out. "Are you certain you wish to do this? This is two-fifty-five Gs. Any higher, and you might snap like a twig."

Gohan crossed his arms defiantly, albeit with some difficulty. "I'm fine, Vegeta. You're the one who should be worried."

The Prince laughed. "You think this is difficult? I've been training at much higher levels than this. I am more than capable of beating you." After a few seconds he stepped away from the controls. The two Saiyans powered up to their maximum of their base form and managed to remain standing as the pull to the ground increased immensely, though Vegeta was naturally more at ease than Gohan. After about twenty minutes of painful adjustment through normally easy exercises, Vegeta slowly took a stance a few feet away from Gohan. "Let us begin, Brat of Kakarot."

The two fought tirelessly for over an hour. Vegeta was first to go Super Saiyan, forcing Gohan to do the same after three grueling minutes of being mercilessly beaten. At random intervals, they would both stop, pant, and glare at each other, then resume the fighting. Reaching the end of his strength, Gohan used one of his newly-learned techniques on Vegeta, who, needless to say, was quite surprised (and thoroughly pissed) when his younger opponent performed a series of intricate hand motions and causing the former to subsequently explode. This led to Vegeta bursting into SSJ2 and going into a complete and utter rage, which lasted for another ten minutes before Gohan knocked out the Prince with a powerful combination of punches while avoiding his opponent's powerful but reckless swings.

Slinging Vegeta over his shoulder, the teenager walked to a healing pod Bulma built and threw his sparring partner into the regenerative chamber. After punching in a few setting, Gohan walked back to the GR. _"He's been training even harder than before. At the rate he's going with the Gravity Room, he'll be way stronger than I am!"_ Sighing, Gohan burst into Super Saiyan and announced to no one "Looks like I've got to work harder to keep up." He proceeded to float over to the central console and entered settings that he knew he would regret the following day.

* * *

Videl breathed deeply. Her target stood before her, begging to be beaten. After three seconds of focusing, she obliged. Unleashing a series of powerful punches and kicks, the Satan girl slammed her hands and feet into the opponent. All the while, she was thinking about someo- well, _two _people. _"It has to be him! Gohan has to be Saiyaman! No one ever heard of that masked dork, and one day, he appears right after the socially-isolated idiot comes to school. I'd bet Gohan's the Gold Fighter too! He was wearing the same clothes and everything!"_

She continued the beating. _"But... It still doesn't make sense. Gohan's weak! Well, he's kinda strong, but not Saiyaman strong!"_ She paused and moved backwards, bouncing on her feet, before going in for the kill.

_"Besides, I don't know if Gohan is actually as strong as he looks. He's too scrawny! In fact, I doubt he jumped as high as everyone thought he did, and maybe that baseball bat was weaker than usual. Yeah... He's nice and all, but that isn't what you need to be able to do martial arts like that Saiyajerk." _Her sparring partner popped, and the guts spilled to the floor. Videl smirked, then walked towards a button near the door. Bringing her head near the speaker, Videl spoke through the intercom system. "Hey, Liz?" The speaker crackled to life.

"Yes, Videl?"

"I left a bit of a mess in Room 7. Could you please send someone to clean it up?"

"We'll be right on it!"  
"Thanks, Liz."

"No problem, Videl. You might also want to know that your friends Erasa and Sharpner called to remind you that they'll be stopping by in 15 minutes for your trip to the mall."

"Oh shoot! Thanks!"

Videl rushed out of the small gym, leaving behind the remains of a doomed punching bag.

Twenty minutes later, the trio were standing outside the huge mall. "I don't get it." Sharpner muttered. "You two were here last weekend. Why do we have to be here now?"

Erasa giggled. "Because there's more stuff, crazy! In fact..." She produced a piece of paper from her purse. "There are forty-three items I want from seventeen different stores that are on sale right now. So let's go!"

Sharpner sighed. "I could have stayed home and relaxed today, but instead I'm here. Why?"

The corner of Videl's mouth angled upwards ever so slightly. _"It's because you have a crush on Erasa, moron."_

Erasa took a deep swig of her latte and threw the empty cup in a passing rubbish bin. "Hey guys! We should totally bring Gohan along with us on one of these trips! It would be, like, so cool for all of our group to hang out outside of school!"

"We just met him two weeks ago. " Videl pointed out.

Erasa pointed an accusatory finger at Videl. "Y'know what, Videl? Most people make friends in a few days! You need to be more relaxed with this kind of stuff!"

Sharpner, who was weighed down by a sum of fifty bags from both girls, nodded his head rigorously. "Yeah! I could hang out with another guy, and he could carry all of this crap!"

"It isn't crap!" Erasa gasped.

"I don't know if he's strong enough to carry all that." Videl stated. "He's way too thin to actually have any actual muscle."

Erasa tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "We've never actually seen his body, so we can't really judge him for that. But he's still nice and funny, and I'm sure he can carry a little of our stuff!"

Videl shrugged. "Fine. I guess he is pretty cool to be around."

Erasa smirked at Videl. "What's that? Do you actually _like_ Gohan?"

Sharpner appeared near her shoulder, showing an equal amount of amusement. "She's actually showing compassion for another human being! She must be in lo-"

Videl glared at him with full force, her body seeming to give off an ambience of darkness. "Sharpner, I will hurt you." The blonde male immediately silenced himself, for fear of being used as a floor mat. It had happened once before, and it wasn't an experience he wished to relive. Videl then turned to her other friend. "Erasa... I'll think of something for you." The blonde girl smirked wickedly before speaking once more. "Anyways, I think we should still get to know Gohan a bit better."

Videl stalked behind her two friends as they continued their expedition. "_I need to make those two stop. They might give Gohan the wrong idea..."_ She watched Sharpner glance quickly and inconspicuously at Erasa. A small smirk grew on Videl's face. "_I know. I'll just get those two together, and I'll be free of their jabs. Anything they say to me can be easily countered."_ She then frowned. _"Of course... That means that I'll be the third wheel to my two best friends... Oh well. Anything to cease their annoying teasing."_

* * *

"WARNING: GRAVITY LEVELS APPROACHING SAFEGUARD RESTRICTION OF 280, SET IN PLACE BY ID: VEGETA - PRIORITY 2 AUTHORITY." Gohan frowned as he continued his two-finger push-ups. _"Huh? Safeguards? Why would Vegeta have those? What's this about IDs?" _Sweat dripped down Gohan's face as he continued his workout. Slowly standing, he then cleared his throat. "Ehh... Cancel safeguard!" The speaker system made a whirring noise, then beeped loudly. "ERROR: NO ID PROVIDED. HIGHER AUTHORITY REQUIRED FOR INCREASING THE GRAVITY BEYOND CURRENT LEVELS. PLEASE STATE YOUR IDENTIFICATION."

"Uh... My name is Son Gohan...?"

"ID RECOGNIZED: GOHAN - PRIORITY 1 - ADMINISTRATOR. TEMPORARILY BYPASSING ALL CURRENT SAFEGUARDS."

Gohan smiled. _"I probably have a some time before Vegeta wakes up. Maybe I can squeeze in a few gravity levels."_ He called out "Computer, set the gravity to two-hundred and ninety." A beep confirmed Gohan's request, and he soon felt the powerful tug at his body grow more powerful. As he felt his legs and resolve to continue standing weakening, he suddenly recalled his dream where he was completely pinned. The Saiyan teen felt his fear, sadness and anger of the dream rush through his veins, revitalizing his strength and forcing him to remain upright. His jaw set in determination, Gohan renewed his efforts.

As he moved faster than the human (or even untrained Saiyan) eye could comprehend, he felt his emotions pulse through him and empower him. The gravity was nothing more than a little weighted training clothes. Caught up in his emotional high, he yelled "Computer! Set gravity to three-hundred!" He could faintly hear the confirmation beep, but he could definitely feel the gravity.

He stopped and stood tall and resolute as the chamber roared with the sheer energy being used to increase the gravity beyond what it ever had before. Gohan's shirt ripped as it got stretched beyond its breaking point on his shoulders. Even his hair was beginning to wilt from the gravitational field's power. In spite of his clothes and hair faltering, Gohan continued to stand. At last, when he felt ready, he took a step, which was one of the most difficult in his life. A few minutes later, he was doing kicks and punches, acting out possible battle scenarios (but avoiding using ki blasts). Just as he was beginning to feel semi-comfortable with his settings, the gravity shut off. The Saiyan fell down from sheer disorientation from the rapid shift of weight. As he got to his feet, he heard the door to the chamber open. _"Is that Vegeta? I didn't expect him to be up so early."_ His suspicions were proven to be false as he made out a blue-haired scientist waving her hands whilst walking towards him.

"GOHAN! Are you CRAZY?"

Gohan scratched his head. "No...?"

"Then why on Earth would you set the gravity so high?! You could be killed!"

"Sorry Bulma. I just kinda got caught up in the moment."

Bulma sighed. "It's okay, Gohan. Just be careful. It's really dangerous to overdo it in here. But now I need to build an even better Gravity Chamber, because you've effectively surpassed this one. It's only designed to go to 300Gs, and even then, there's a high chance of it breaking." Bulma then rubbed her chin. "I wonder... How did you manage to go so high? An hour ago, you and Vegeta were fighting at two-sixty Gs!" Gohan laughed nervously. "Well, I saw how much he had improved, so I wanted to keep up." He paused, and tilted his head. "That reminds me... Why did Vegeta have a safeguard? And why do I have administrative access?"

"A few weeks ago, being typical Vegeta, he overestimated his strength, but way more so than usual, which led to him having a four hour visit to the Healing Pod. Ever since then, I've been forcing him to keep an emergency barrier that can only be changed every two weeks. And you get higher priority because I know you're more responsible. Plus, you actually help out around here, which is more than I can say about Vegeta."

Gohan chuckled. "Yeah. That does sound like Vegeta. Hey Bulma, what time is it?"

Bulma glanced at her wristwatch. "It's five fifteen. Why? What time are you supposed to be home?" She amusingly observed Gohan's horrified face. "I'm so dead." He whispered. "I was supposed to be home at five o'clock. My mom's going to kill me!"

He made to sprint to the doorway before Bulma said "You do know I have a phone, right? You can always call and say you're going to be a few minutes late."

Gohan turned, looking as though he had been enlightened by the divine forces of the Universe. "You're right! Thank you so much, Bulma! You're a genius!"

He flew out of the room, leaving the daughter of Dr. Briefs chuckling to herself. "No problem, kid. It's what I do."

* * *

Gohan's stomach roared loudly as his mother set down platters of food before him and Goten. The latter of the two Saiyans had drool trickling down his chin as his wide eyes took in every detail of the delicacies cravingly. However, the two half-aliens were smart enough to wait, for nothing was quite worth incurring the wrath of Chi-Chi, including food. As soon as the mother of two sat down, filled her plate, and gave _the_ nod, the two dug in.

Plate after plate and bowl after bowl fell prey to the Son brothers, for no food could be spared from their nearly insatiable appetites. In the time it took Chi-Chi to finish her serving, Gohan and Goten had finished off the rest of the food. As Gohan leaned back and rubbed his thoroughly stuffed belly, he turned to his younger brother. "So what did you do today, Goten?"

Goten thought for awhile, his face scrunched in concentration. "Well... After you left with Mister Piccolo, Mom sent me to go get some apples from that nice apple tree over by the stream. But once I got there, I saw a lizard and I chased it. I caught it, but then I let it go. I forgot what I was there for, so I started chasing some butterflies until I was back at the tree, so I picked the apples and came back. Then, Mom told me read a book while she read a little, so I read "The Three Little Pigs", but then I got bored and started doing handstands. Then, Mom said that she would take me out to train a little."

At this Gohan turned to his mom and raised his eyebrows in surprise. She shot him a frown and announced "I don't know why you're surprised. After all, I was a finalist in the World Martial Arts Tournament. I need to keep in shape somehow."

Gohan smiled and returned his attention to Goten, who was continuing his aimless ramble. "-and she told me to always stay on my guard so I tried but she still was able to hit me a couple times then I practiced blocking while she took a shower. Then, I started punching some rocks to get stronger, but I accidentally made one roll down a hill, but I broke it before it could hurt any of the trees." His face broke out into a grin. "And then you came home! What did you do?"

Gohan smiled. "Piccolo taught me a new fighting technique," Goten gasped, his eyes wide excitement. "And then I trained with Vegeta in the GR."

Goten was standing on his chair at this point. "No way! You learned a new way to fight in a day!" Gohan chuckled. "Well, I can't say I've mastered it, but I think I've got the hang of it."

"I wanna see! Can you please show me?" Goten begged, his eyes resembling those of a sad puppy dog.

"Sure thing, squirt, but not today. Maybe tomorrow?" The younger Saiyan grinned, looking forward to seeing his older brother's and personal hero's new styles.

Chi-Chi watched the two interact with a sad smile on her face. _"They both are saints, just like their father. Goku, I hope you are watching them from up there." _After being caught in a happy daze for some time, she finally got to her feet and began picking up plates. "Go brush your teeth, you two. Goten, you draw up the bath. You're still sweaty from training today.

Goten pouted. "But mom!" Son Chi-Chi frowned in disapproval. "No buts!" Goten started giggling and chose to run off and start the bath. Gohan, in turn, got up and began helping his mother with the dishes.

* * *

"Ahhhh. That was great!" Mr. Satan said loudly as he patted his stomach. He flipped through a newspaper. "So, Sweetpea, how has school been?"

Videl took a sip of water. "It was alright. Nothing really special happened since you left." Mr. Satan looked at her over the top of his paper questioningly. "How are your grades?"

Videl shrugged. "It's too early to say. We haven't been given that many assignments."

Her father continued browsing through the paper. "And what about boys?"

Videl knew where the discussion was headed. "Well, a new kid has been hanging out with me and my friends. He's pretty cool. And Billy is being even MORE annoying than before, and I've gotten really close to punching him multiple times now."

Her father snorted. "This is the same punk that you knocked out?"

She sighed. "Yeah. He doesn't know when to stop. If I could, I would kick him into orbit."

Hercule chuckled. "That's my girl! But if you ever get to the point of actually beating him up, I'll take care of him. Beating random people up is bad publicity, even if they are annoying." He then leaned forwards, his eyes trained on his daughter's face. "And what about this new kid?"

Videl quickly went into defense mode. She subconsciously tightened her shoulders and bent ever so slightly. This was noticed by Hercule, but he chose to let it slide... At least for the time being. Videl's mind was racing as she attempted to compose a defense for Gohan. _"How do I do this? If I say that he's actually pretty cool, then Dad will think that I like him! But if I act as though he's worthless, then Dad will suspect Gohan likes me!"_

She carefully spoke. "Well, he's okay, I guess. He's kinda strange and isn't exactly a 'people person', but is a genius when it comes to schoolwork."

Mr. Satan, who was trying to build a mental image of the newest 'threat', asked a simple question that was a large part of who he was. "Is he tough?"

Videl struggled to answer this. _"Shoot! I'm don't even know if Gohan's a world-class athlete or a weak dork!"_ After two seconds, she tentatively answered. "... I'm not sure. He seems weak at times, but he sometimes does stuff that I don't think even I can't do."

Hercule's eyes grew, then he started laughing. "BWAHAHAHAHA. Something YOU couldn't do? HA! You're a Satan! Satan's can't be beaten!"

Videl rubbed her head. "It's... Complicated." She then stood up. "I'm going to go be in the gym."

Hercule narrowed his eyes. "Sounds great. I might head down there myself later. And Videl," He waited until she stopped walking and turned around. "Yes?" He frowned for emphasis. "Don't let him get the wrong idea, okay?" Videl rolled her eyes as she turned away. "Yes, Dad."

As Videl strode into the family gym, she rolled her eyes. _"Typical Dad. Always assuming that any friend that happens to be male wants to be my boyfriend." _She paused, deciding what she wanted to do. _"He's not wrong most of the time, but it's still annoying."_ As she picked up some dumbbells, she reflected how long it took her father to trust Sharpner. It had involved a lot of serious discussions and calming down the latter party, who got panicky after first encountering the World Champ, who was as standoffish towards potential suitors as he was loud and boisterous.

Videl then started doing push-ups, all the while thinking of a way to get her dad to go easy on Gohan. _"The problem is that Gohan's weak, and Dad will probably scare him in the first few seconds of meeting him. But what am I thinking? There's still a lot of time before I should feel comfortable to invite him over."_

A few minutes later she skipping rope, still thinking. _"I hardly know him for crying out loud! He's practically a stranger!" _She then mulled over her suspicions of him. _"I know that he's hiding something, but I'm pretty sure that he isn't Saiyaman. That would be ridiculous. I can't believe I seriously thought that the weak geek in my class is that annoying trickster. Even Saiyaman has to have a little muscle to do what he does, right?"_ Her breath became more and more ragged as her stamina wore thinner nearing the 500th skip. After reaching the goal, she grabbed a cup of water.

Soon, Videl found herself in her room. After taking a quick shower, she threw on her normal sleepwear, which consisted of blue, long-legged pajama pants and an excessively large sweater carelessly thrown over a t-shirt. After sitting down at her desks and completing a few of the chemistry handouts, she decided to chat with Erasa. Grabbing her phone, the young Satan called her best friend. The phone rung once... Twice...

"Hello?"

"Hey Erasa."

"Oh Videl! What's up?"

"Nothing much. I just finished some of the chemistry homework. You?"

The blonde girl grinned on her end of the line. "I was just trying on some of the stuff I got! You remember that sun dress that I got?"

* * *

The following day was devoted for studying, at least in Gohan's world. When he had protested the need for such measures, she had responded very snappily. "Young man, I will not have you lose all that I taught you over the last few years because you refuse to take a few refresher courses!" She then picked up a random book. "Find the value of x in the equation x squared plus six x plus nine."

Gohan yawned, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes. "x equals negative three."

She flipped open another book. "How long has the King Furry family been in power?"

"Three-hundred and fifty-seven years. Ever since they used the Dragon Balls."

This quizzing went on for ten more minutes before Chi-Chi stood from Gohan's desk. "Alright. You can go back to bed. It's 4:30, so be ready for another round at 5:30." Gohan, who had been half-asleep while she pestered him with questions, fell back into the wonderful comfort of his pillow and muttered incomprehensibly.

* * *

Having had his mother sign his form and pack him an extra large lunch, Gohan took off to Satan City, both anxious and excited for the field trip. _"I wonder where we're going."_ He thought as he soured over vast mountains. As he reached the last major summit, he paused briefly in the air, breathed, then blasted off. He flew close to the ground, a mere streak of light in the eyes of a human. He pressed the red button on his watch and allowed himself to be enclosed by his suit. _"Here comes the Great Saiyaman!"_ He smirked as the skyscrapers of Satan City came into view.

* * *

Videl kicked down a door. It wasn't unusual for her to be fighting a group of criminals much larger than her, but it was still inconveniencing. She ran straight up to a charging wrongdoer and blocked his attacks. Noticing how his hits came slowly, she found the perfect opportunity to knock him out within five seconds. Just as he fell, the roar of a machine gun tore through the room. Videl rolled behind a desk, hoping that the cover produced from the papers flying everywhere was enough to allow her escape to be unnoticed. She listened carefully as heavy footfalls approached, and waited with baited breath as heavy breathing filled the room she was in. _"He's in here, but where?"_ She moved to a point where she could look under the desk and glanced around the room. He was standing at the threshold of a hallway she hadn't explored quite yet. _"I've found you. So how do I get to you?"_

The adolescent Satan knew that an open charge was out of the option. Her opponent was too far away for her to even stand a chance, and it seemed that he was going to start filling up the room with bullets if they couldn't find her. _"So I'll have to sneak up on him, then." _She glanced at he watch. _"I should hurry. I might be late for the field trip."_ She slowly slid out from behind her desk and looked at her potential assailant, who wasn't looking in Videl's direction. With this opportunity, she quickly got behind a closer desk. She continued this pattern of watching, waiting, and rushing, until she was within twenty feet of the man. _"Ugh! This is taking forever! Where's that stupid klutz when you need him?!"_ No sooner had she thought that had a certain stupid klutz chopped the shooter's neck from behind.

* * *

Gohan nearly walked out of the room when he stopped. "Who's there?" He said in his Saiyaman voice. He heard a rustling before Videl stood up from behind a nearby desk. "Eep! Oh, -uh- hello, Miss Videl."

"You idiot! Kyaaa!" She screamed in fury and charged up to him. Her fist crashed into Gohan's shoulder, and which didn't move. They both stared at it, Videl in shock and Gohan in confusion.

Gohan eventually looked up. "Um... Are you done yet?"

Videl just realized that her fist was still pressed against the strangely-clothed superhero and pulled it away hastily. Gohan then said "I must be off! Until next time, Miss Videl!"

Videl sweat-dropped as the weirdo flew down the hallway. _"I'll never understand him." _Glancing at her watch, she internally screamed _"Shit!"_

* * *

Gohan landed in the nick of time. "Great!" He breathed. "I'm not too late!" Glancing up into the sky, he wondered if she would be back in time. _"Well, if I don't hurry, both of us will be late!"_

Soon, the entire grade was shuffling in front of the school. Teachers were trying desperately to keep order, but were obviously failing. Gohan had managed to find Sharpner and Erasa in the crowd, thanks to a little ki sensing. As they talked about what they did over the weekend (Gohan leaving out a few details), Mr. Khimiya picked up a speakerphone and began giving orders. "Everybody listen up! We are about to depart! Now, each seat on the buses only have enough space to accommodate two people, and two people _only_! Everyone should find a partner to sit with on the trip there and back!"

There was a great rush as people sought out their friends. Gohan only saw Erasa and Sharpner stand side-by-side before a crowd of people surrounded _him._ And they were no ordinary people; they were females.

"Hey, Gohan! You should totally sit with me!"

"Don't listen to her! I'd be much happier to go with you!"

A particularly bold one pushed through the others and placed a palm and Gohan's shoulder. The latter squirmed, while the former began making her attack.

Gohan wasn't the only one having problems. Videl had landed and had made it to the crowd in time, only to be swamped by boys. With their ceaseless chatter, she was able to understand that they were pairing up for sitting in the bus. After managing to push through them, she encountered the disgusting smirk of Billy, and simply pushed past him. She herself had a half-smirk at the look of shock and hurt on his face. _"Erasa and Sharpner are probably sitting together. Which leaves..."_ She searched through the crowd, and found the panicked face of Gohan, who looked like he wanted to turn invisible.

Gohan's attacker was squeezing Gohan's shoulder, making the situation all the the more scary for him. "Well, Gohan? How about it?"

Gohan stuttered. He didn't want to ride with the girl, but he also didn't want to upset her. "_Think! I can't tell her I don't want to unless I have a good excuse!"_

Videl pushed through the horde of students, trying to get closer to Gohan, as she approached his scared face, she saw the source of his fears. A girl was practically pushing herself against him. Videl quickly noted how her body was angled, how her chest was pushed out forwards as her hand was slowly yet steadily rubbing on his shoulder, then raised her eyebrows in alarm. "_Wow. She's really trying."_ Her eyes then hardened. "_I've got to stop this. He probably has no idea what's going on."_ She forced herself through the unremitting crowd.

The girl wore a pout. "Please, Gohan?" Gohan scratched the back of his head, a pained smile on his face. "Well..."

"Gohan! Get over here!" Gohan's head snapped in the direction of the familiar voice. His eyes widened and his shoulders slackened as he found his savior. He turned to the girl. "I-I'm sorry. I have a -um- friend that already wanted me." With that, he turned and ran towards Videl, his face beet red from the effort it took to come up with the lie.

Videl stood, arms crossed, as Gohan raced up to her. "Hey, Videl! Boy am I glad you made it back from beating up those bad guys on time!"

Videl's eyes narrowed. "How did you know that I was late from fighting crime?" Gohan realized his mistake. "Oh- well- um- y'see, I d-didn't see you here, and so I figured you must've been off doing your job!"

Videl squinted, suspicion evident before she shrugged. "Yeah. I was almost late because _Saiyaman _showed up." Gohan laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

* * *

Gohan was seated on the window side of the chair he and Videl shared, while Erasa and Sharpner sat right in front of them. It took some time to finally be ready, but they had soon begun moving. The students chattered excitedly, wondering where the bus could possibly be going. Gohan leaned his head against the glass and stare outside. Of course, every so often the bus would bump, and his head would slam into the glass. Fortunately enough, the glass didn't shatter, but his friends still gave him odd looks. "Hey, Gohan? You okay?" Gohan lifted his head lazily off the cold glass and stared at Sharpner. "Huh?" Sharpner scratched his head and laughed. "You must have a really hard head!" Gohan laughed as well. "_You have no idea."_ He laid his head back onto the glass and continued gazing outside.

Videl looked suspiciously at the boy next to her. His eyes were glazed over, and his face was expressionless. "_I wonder what he's thinking about?"_ Every once a while, Gohan would shift, but remained still for the most part. Videl looked ahead. Erasa and Sharpner were laughing over something that seemed to be hilarious. "_I wonder how I'm going to get them together..."_ She mused. "_They both like each other, but don't know how to approach the other... Maybe I should convince Erasa that it'd be easiest just to be clear with her feelings. I would try to push Sharpner to do the same, but he's too proud to do that, so that would be pointless."_

Gohan's mind was far elsewhere. Recently, Goten had begun being more persistent in asking about his father. This made Gohan nervous, because it wouldn't be long before Goten found out what had happened. That Goku was dead. From there, it would lead to another question: How did he die?

"_Because I was careless and stupid. Because I let the power get to my head. Because his older brother was so overconfident that he let their father die."_ Gohan felt his eyes watering. "_No. I won't let myself cry. I don't deserve to cry, and I'm surrounded by people."_

"Gohan? Are you okay?"

Gohan jumped and turned to a curious Videl. "What?! Yeah! I'm fine!" He quickly responded.

Videl took in his strange tone and his quick responsiveness. She also noted the single tear that was on his cheek before it was quickly swiped away. "Oh, okay." She said carefully, while she was screaming questions internally. "I just thought you were acting a bit odd... It's nothing." She was quiet as Gohan nodded once and turned to look outside again.

* * *

Videl sat silent for the longest of times. Within her, a battle was playing out between bringing up Gohan's behavior or simply leaving it alone. While she obviously had many questions regarding his strange disposition, she also has the feeling that he was thinking of something private. _"So?"_ A part of her thought. _"I've always had suspicions about him. How is this any different?"_

Videl glanced at Gohan, who was still gazing at the passing scenery, which now consisted of rolling green landscape. _"Then again... It's obviously personal. How would I feel if he started asking questions about my life?"_

_"At the same time, I can't just forget this. There's something off about Gohan, and I promised myself that I would find it out."_ Videl then recalled a saying her father loved to use. _"A Satan always delivers!"_

* * *

Gohan remained zoned-out for a large portion of the trip. After awhile, he got his mind out of the depressing past and began to think about happier things, like what his mom had packed for lunch. As he thought of these happy things, he was oblivious to the excited whispers and gasps as the bus gradually slowed down. Only after he felt Videl nudging him did he return to reality. "Gohan! We're here!"

"Huh? Where?"

His eyes tried to make sense of the scenery, about to ask for further details when his words died in his throat. All along the bus, students pressed the face and marveled at the glorious site.

Palm trees and flowery bushes formed a huge perimeter around the property. An expansive structure rose majestically from the center. Light glinted off of the golden dome laying before them, labeled clearly in blue: Capsule Corp.

* * *

I realize that this is a nearly cliche plot device, but I couldn't pass it up! It's so amusing!

Until next time.


End file.
